Thoughts on Judaism

THOUGHTS ON JUDAISM

THOUGHTS ON JUDAISM

BY

LILY H. MONTAGU

Author of "Broken Stalks"

LONDON

R. BRIMLEY JOHNSON

4 ADAM STREET, ADELPHI

1904

INTRODUCTION

THIS little book purposes to explain my
conception of Judaism as a living religion.
In endeavouring to answer the questions —
What are the vital principles of Judaism ?
Why are they vital ? How can they be
applied to modern life ? — I have ventured to
reveal my own faith, for the experience of
one soul, however unimportant in itself, may
serve as a testimony to the living faith
which is among us. Clearly there can be,
on my part, no claim to any authority what-
ever ; nor do I pretend that my conception
of Judaism is novel. It owes a great deal to
Mr Montefiore's essay on " Liberal Judaism,"
though the point of view is not everywhere

the same. But, like Mr Montenore, I too

A

2 Thoughts on Judaism

have ventured to work on constructive lines,
and to give, however briefly and imperfectly,
a personal presentment of Judaism. I have
written in a dogmatic strain, not assuredly
because I am not painfully conscious of my
own limitations, but because there is a large
body of Jews who require the construction,
at any rate in outline, of a definite theory of
their faith. They are anxious to realise and
to transmit Judaism as a living faith, but
have no time or inclination to work out the
principles and deductions of such a faith for
themselves. This class includes busy men
and women who "have enough to do
already without thinking very much about
their religion." There are others who think
Judaism all right in its proper place, but do
not believe it affects them more often,
perhaps, than two or three times a year.
They cherish certain prejudices which
belonged to their parents, and when they
attend synagogue, are glad that it should
recall memories of their infancy. Therefore
they resist the bogey of " reform," but their
religion has merely an impersonal interest.

Thoughts on Judaism 3

It makes no demands on their lives; it is
no real help to them. Then there are the
parents who want their children to be faith-
ful to Judaism, but cannot see how they can
attach them to a doctrine, which appears to
them to be obsolete. There are the con-
scientious teachers who long to make their
lessons alive and interesting, but who them-
selves have not yet quite assimilated the
spiritual strength which they would transmit.
All these people seem to feel that Judaism,
without dogma, is too shadowy a faith to be
really acceptable to them. There is also
that large section of Jews who, like my-
self, are seeking to understand the value
of their spiritual inheritance, and who
may feel sympathy with some of my con-
clusions.

I have tried to remember the point of
view of these various classes, and in a
practical manner to satisfy some of their
needs. My effort may perhaps stimulate
others in the same direction, and with better
results. Thus points of religious agree-
ment rather than differences are emphasised,

4 Thoughts on Judaism

and it is proved that the same Ideal of
Righteousness inspires all sections of our
community. The variety of conceptions
held by believing Jews, are at once a peril
and a blessing to Judaism. For what are
the reasons for this variety? In the first
place, since the authority for our creed rests
in human conscience, its phases must be as
varied as individuality itself. Secondly,
Judaism has always been closely connected
with life, and life becomes more complex as
civilisation develops.

Judaism is the hallowing of existing ideals,
and ideals shift from generation to generation.
A religion which rests on conscience is a
robust religion, and makes a supreme
demand on all human faculties. It claims
the highest life from its devotees. The
close connection between religion and life is
clearly the ideal which all cults emphasise.
How then is the variety a peril ? It gives
an excuse to the indifferent to devote their
minds to other causes, instead of attempting
to realise the principles of Judaism. They
argue that a religion which depends on the

Thoughts on Judaism 5

conscience of each individual, is the concern
of each individual, and if he chooses to
neglect it, his apathy need not trouble his
neighbours. If he wishes, he can adopt a
more convenient faith, or, if he is thoroughly
indolent, he can say, " Since there are so
many conceptions none can be entirely true.
I will not trouble myself but will drift on to
the end of my life and be comfortable." I
have tried to show that indifference is a
malignant growth which leads to spiritual
destruction, and that its influence spreads
far beyond the life of any individual sufferer.
It is dangerous to feel too comfortable about
religious matters, for this sort of comfort
generally prevents aspiration. We are here
to struggle nearer to the divine truth and
goodness. We shall not get very far if our
ideal is comfort, if we merely want to cover
up our indifference instead of fighting and
overcoming it. The "building-up time"
has arrived, and I venture to appeal to all
who sympathise with my religious concep-
tion, to help in the work of reconstruction.
We must rouse the indifferent from their

6 Thoughts on Judaism

lethargy and get them to realise their
religious obligations. Each community
must contribute some vitality to the religious
ideal of its own generation.

The beauty of Judaism is useless unless
we can consciously assimilate it in our lives.
Before it can be assimilated it must be
understood. This book attempts to explain,
as definitely and clearly as possible, the
meaning of our faith as it appears to one
Jewish believer. x

1 In this connection I wish to express my sincere thanks
to Mr and Mrs C. G. Montefiore for the sympathy and
encouragement they have given me throughout the pro-
duction of my book, and for their practical suggestions for
its improvement. Had it not been for their help I should
have been overwhelmed by the difficulty of making myself
articulate. While acknowledging most gratefully my in-
debtedness to these friends, I would remind my readers
that I alone am responsible for the many limitations and
imperfections of my work.

CHAPTER I

MOST of us are agreed that certain principles
are vital to Judaism. By this we mean that
Judaism as a religion could not exist if any
one of these principles were refuted. We
believe that they cannot be refuted, and we
endeavour, as far as we can, to reveal this
faith through our lives. Quite apart from
the accident of our birth, quite apart from
our fidelity to ceremonials, we claim to be-
long to the Jewish brotherhood, because we
accept the following principles as eternal
truths : —

I. There is one sole Creator or God.

This great central fact dominates all our
religious conceptions. Biblical prophets and
teachers did not speculate very frequently
on the nature of God. They were surrounded
by nations who put their trust in many gods,

7

8 Thoughts on Judaism

and made material representations of them
for purposes of worship. This idolatry,
originating as it did in a variety of causes,
may have been partly stimulated by a deep
sense of reverence. The world seemed so
wonderful to these primitive worshippers,
that it was impossible for them to believe
that it could all have been the work of one
God. So they divided up the dominion of
nature and placed it under many rulers.
Gradually they attributed all sorts of coarse
human passions to these various gods, and
consequently the worship of them became
degraded and impure. Then was the idea
of God's unity revealed to the Jewish pro-
phets and thinkers, and at the same time they
recognised their own human limitations.
They were not meant to understand His
being, they were only called upon to re-
cognise and pay homage to the attributes by
which He makes Himself manifest to His
creatures. These teachers were filled with
awe at the greatness and power of God, and
with gratitude for His love. They denounced
with all their strength the creation of idols,

Thoughts on Judaism 9

since idolatry degraded worship. The one
God was manifest in all His works ; any
effort to symbolise His power could only
limit His greatness, which was infinite. To-
day we have not any temptation to make
idols. Common sense shows us the absurdity
of such worship as belonged to the child-
period of the world's history. When we
declare our faith in the Unity of God, we
mean primarily that the Ruler of the Universe
is one, and that His very nature forms a unity.
In Him there is no clashing of wills or
varieties of purpose. As He was, so He is
and so He will be, and by His high and
changeless will the universe is governed and
controlled. Secondly, we mean that God is
"pure" spirit, for singleness of nature is
implied in unity, and we can only conceive
what we call " soul," or spirit as absolutely one
and changeless. Thirdly, we mean that, in
our belief, the one spirit is revealed in all
forms of creation ; that the one Spiritual
Being is omnipresent. To Him belong
perfect love, truth and beauty, and these
attributes are manifest in His works.

io Thoughts on Judaism

II. From the belief in God's existence
and unity important consequences follow.
The second vital principle embodied in
Judaism is " That the God of the World has
relations with each human sou/, and that each
soul, being an emanation from Him, must be,
like Him, immortal" Our faith in the perfect
oneness of God involves our faith that the
human spirit, in however infinitesimal a
degree, shares His attributes. Because God
is immortal, the spirit with which He has
animated us cannot be liable to decay.

We can recognise two important channels,
through which the divine life works in the
spiritual world. The all-powerful, all-loving
God, who has called all creation into being,
can influence and sustain every form of life.
The human spirit can, through communion
with God, renew its strength from the divine
source whence it came. God in His love
has given us the supreme gift of aspiration.
In seeking to lead a higher life, we open our
hearts to receive strength from God. Our
Father in His pity and love reaches down
to us and helps us. We, in our efforts to

Thoughts on Judaism 1 1

lead better lives, move a little nearer to
God.

The power of communion between man
and God is revealed in the influence of love
on our lives. We are conscious of God's
love, when we cease to vex our souls with
harassing questions and miserable self-absorp-
tion, when we stand still and look up. Then
we are at peace and we feel God's presence.
Then again, pure, unselfish human love
spiritualises our lives, inasmuch as it is in-
spired by the God who is the source of love.
In its purity and beauty it reflects, however
remotely, the glory of God. Life under the
influence of love becomes bright with
possibilities which stretch beyond and above
the world of passion and sordid struggle.
Love unites us to the God of life. In ex-
periencing love we know ourselves immortal.

III. The Unity of God involves the exist-
ence of law. God governs the world by
law. When the leaves fall off the trees in
autumn, we are sure that the vital sap is
being secreted and that the joyous beauty of

1 2 Thoughts on Judaism

spring will follow the dreary barrenness of
winter. That is God's law. When at the
seaside, we see the tide ebb and the sand
appear, we know that this condition will not
last. There will be high tide again at the
exact moment when we expect it. We know
God's immutable law. These physical laws,
which belong to a group known as the laws
of nature, are not the only laws which, because
of their immutability, we can call God's laws.
There is also the moral law, upon which
another Jewish principle is founded. We
are responsible to God for our conduct, and if
we sin we must bear the consequences of our
sin. No intercessor is possible or necessary
between man and God. The Divine love
enters into the hearts of those who seek it
wit /i prayer and contrition. Every created
being is meant to develop the law of its
existence, to develop all its powers and to
live a full live. Human beings are endowed
with certain powers of mind, and heart, and
body, which, being good> must belong to the
one Divine Being, Who in His oneness
includes all things good. We have the

Thoughts on Judaism 1 3

power to be good — to realise the spiritual
life which is the best in us. We are endowed
with the power to know evil and to reject it.
When we turn away from goodness and
choose evil, we slip away from God, and life
becomes difficult and harassing. Only
through repentance and a changed life can
the soul which sin has separated from God
feel near to Him again. We bear the pain
of isolation when we sin. There can be no
union with God except through righteous-
ness, for the nature of God is entirely good.
But while conscious of our sin, we are also
conscious of the power of reuniting ourselves
with God. If we will only repent, and by
continuous effort improve our lives, we can
atone for our sin and realise again the peace
which comes from God. Sin cannot be linked
to goodness. The two are distinct — apart,
eternally separate. No intercessory power
can obtain for us remission of our sins. We
have the power to make atonement for our-
selves. We can turn from our sin and again
live at one with God. When we sin we
separate ourselves from God. But He, being

1 4 Thoughts on Judaism

eternal in His wisdom and His love, does
not lose sight of us. He knows us still, even
when we sin. He knows our weakness and
our temptation. His love must be beautified
by pity — for how otherwise could He in His
perfection love us ? When we turn from our
sin, when we recognise it and hate it, and
allow ourselves to suffer the pain of remorse,
our nature is purified and spiritualised. The
divine love enters into our hearts. We have
atoned ; we are at one. The more frequent
the sin, the more terrible the separation, the
more difficult the return. We can imagine
people who form the habit of evil-doing, lose
consciousness of the power of this Divine love.
They slip further and further from the source
of pure happiness, and in this separateness
they experience the consequences of sin.

IV. When we become conscious of the love
of God, as revealed in our own lives, we feel
instinctively drawn to our neighbours, who
share with us the spiritual life which is
divine. The love of our neighbours is then a
necessary development of our love of God.

Thoughts on Judaism \ 5

His unity is revealed in the oneness of the
human family, in their common need — the
need for love. We dare not shrink from
any fellow-being, seeing that we are all
the children of God. Obviously, then, we
can only fulfil the law of our being and
realise a full life if we develop the power of
service. In helping our neighbours we are
revealing our love for God ; we are doing
homage to His unity.

These four vital principles of Judaism are
embodied in our " Shema " — the prayer
which should be the inspiration of our lives.
In this prayer we declare the Unity of God
and proclaim our allegiance to the law of
love — that love which should purify our con-
duct in all its various phases. It is by love
we reach God ; it is through love that we
avoid sin ; it is through love that we seek
to accomplish our duty to our neighbours
and to posterity.

V. If we reflect on the spiritual possibilities
of life, inspired by the principles of Judaism,
we cannot doubt that the Jewish bfotherhood

1 6 Thoughts on Judaism

exists for a definite religious purpose. We
are the guardians of a perfectly pure religious
idea, for we are the direct descendants of
those men who, in an age of idolatry and
degradation, bore witness to the Unity of
God. We have been taught by genera-
tions of believers that God is the God of
righteousness, and that by righteousness
alone can He be served. If we are to be
true to the charge which our fathers have
laid upon us, we must hand down to our
children this pure faith. And we must
transmit it not only by the declaration of our
lips, but also by the example of our lives.
God has allowed Israel to survive all the
terrors of ignorance, persecution, self-indulg-
ence and superstition, in order that we may
bear witness to the power of faith as a
hallowing of life. If we can only realise the
privilege and joy of this work, we shall be
equal to the efforts of self-realisation and
self-sacrifice which it demands. It is because
we are often such unwilling and unfaithful
witnesses, that the vitalising power of Judaism
is so little recognised by the world. WThen

Thoughts on Judaism 1 7

Israel knows its God and allows His

love to glorify its life, other nations will

join with it in a common worship. On

that day will the Lord be one and His
name one.

CHAPTER II

IN the previous chapter I have given my
conception of the vital principles of Judaism.
In the following pages I propose to explain
this conception more fully.

It is obviously impossible to prove the
existence of God. We ask ourselves — On
what evidence do we base our faith ? How,
in the face of so much misery and evil, can
we believe in an all-powerful, all-merciful
and all-just God ? Our replies will only
satisfy our fellow - believers. We do not
pretend to satisfactorily "explain" God by
processes of reasoning and by argument, for
we know the limitations of the human
intellect.

We believe that " God's thoughts are not
our thoughts and our ways are not His
ways." We see evidence around us of the
existence of law, and we worship God as

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Thoughts on Judaism 19

the author of law. In man there is abundant
evidence of the spiritual life. Acts of pure
self-sacrifice and of noble heroism cannot be
explained on physical grounds. The very
incompleteness of the noblest human lives,
the suffering of the " finite heart that
yearns," the endless striving after unattain-
able ideals, all bear testimony to the exist-
ence of a God Whose perfection inspires
mortals with a <( divine discontent."

We feel God's presence within ourselves
and in the good desires which sometimes
obtain a mastery over our lives and force us
to accomplish deeds of love. The finite
mind cannot comprehend the Infinite — the
imperfect spirit fails utterly, when it seeks
to measure itself with Perfection. But God
can satisfy the souls of those who seek Him.
He can make himself felt. We can solve the
secret of the Lord when we fear Him. No
amount of logical exposition can explain the
certainty or the intensity of our faith. We
feel God and are at rest. We seek not to
understand Him for we realise that none
of us shall "see His face and live."

2O Thoughts on Judaism

It seems clear that experience alone can
convince us of the existence of God, of His
love for righteousness, of His relations to
each human soul. To the sceptic, who
cannot admit the possibility of God's Father-
hood, we can only say, " Pray, ask God
to reveal Himself to you, accept the
limitations of your understanding, throw
yourself on God's mercy, speak to Him
your doubts, and then ' stand in awe and
sin not, commune with your heart upon
your bed and be still." This silent waiting
is difficult to achieve in our age of dis-
quietude and of restless activity. We toss
about one philosophical theory after another
and can get no rest. But, if we will only
be still, we shall hear the word, "very nigh
to us in our minds and in our hearts, that
we may do it." When we peer into the
future and consider certain troubles which
may overtake us, we are sometimes inclined
to believe that such troubles will be quite
intolerable ; we shall succumb under their
burden. But God reveals Himself in many
ways, and sometimes the whisper of His love

Thoughts on Judaism 2 1

is most clearly heard in the midst of tribula-
tion. To Hagar, as she watched in the
wilderness, came the voice of God bidding
her arise and shake off her agony and take
up her child and live. The mother-love
revealed in Hagar lives to-day in all its
passionate intensity, and noble purity, and
reflects, in spite of human frailty, some of
the brightest rays of the divine love — the
rays of pity, tenderness, unselfishness and
forgiveness. Yet how often in our own
experience do we see this mother-love over-
taken by the most overwhelming trials. A
child is snatched away without warning by
some swift malady ; another is seen to linger
in suffering, and the remedies which would
relieve the pain are beyond the mother's
means — she must watch the suffering and
cry aloud in her impotence. Nothing avails
— God's will is done. Another child, full
of bright promise, is chained to a life of
misery and temptation. The mother-love
is in conflict with conditions which it cannot
overthrow, even though through its intensity
it survives in their despite. In all these

22 Thoughts on Judaism

instances, we bow our heads in awe before
the mystery of God's love. According to
the beautiful Maccabaean legend, the oil
which seemed only sufficient for the one
night's ritual celebrations in the Temple
fed the sacred lamp for a whole week.
Similarly, our power, which seems so limited,
is in times of trial strengthened by God's
love. He never sends us trouble without
supplying us at the same time with the
courage to endure. But we must train
ourselves to seek His help — to look up in
prayer to His throne. Then when the
moment of our trouble comes, our faith will
not fail us. The glorious light of hope and
love will burst through the darkest clouds
and irradiate once more our lives. We
cannot go through life without learning to
know and to admire men and women, who
bear their troubles with splendid fortitude,
who live saintly lives, but who nevertheless
deny that they are in any way conscious of
the existence of God. Our acquaintance
with these heroic men and women some-
times affects us uncomfortably. We are

Thoughts on Judaism 23

mystified by their courage, and their
scepticism suggests doubts to ourselves.
But there is no question that many of these
sceptics love and worship God under a name
which they create for themselves. Perhaps
they believe in goodness, or in law, or in
nature, or in a spiritual essence, and con-
sciously or unconsciously endow these
abstractions with many of the attributes
which, according to Jewish teaching, belong
to God. But we must admit that there are
others who serve God by their righteous-
ness, while yet unable to acknowledge His
sovereignty. They are strong enough to
live good lives without the aids to holiness,
which religion supplies. But while rever-
encing these courageous folk, and admitting
that their righteousness makes our lapses
all the more grievous and shameful, we
venture, nevertheless, to believe that the
possibilities of virtue must be greater to
the believer than to the unbeliever. " Life's
ideals are hallowed by religion," and if we
refuse to recognise the existence of per-
fection outside our lives, we must admit

24 Thoughts on Judaism,

limitations to the degree of our own
endeavour. Moreover, the strong man who
relies solely on his strength cannot live free
from peril. Hillel taught us never to be
sure of ourselves till the day of our death.
Further, none of us can live for ourselves
alone. The sceptic, like every other man
since the days of Cain, is destined to be
his brother's keeper. He is responsible for
his children, and even for his neighbours,
whom he may have infected with his
scepticism. Who knows whether their
strength will be equal to his own? It is
the task of the believing Jew to wage a
crusade against religious indifference, and
negation, with all their deadening tendencies.
His effective weapon will be the testimony
of a holy life illuminated by joy and hope
and dignified by responsibility and purpose.
Our belief in the immortality of the soul
rests primarily on our faith in God's Unity '
and can be further explained by our con-
sciousness of His love. We have been
endowed with powers of mind and heart
1 Page 10, par. i.

Thoughts on Judaism 25

which we cannot fully realise in this world.
Human love would be indeed an irony if
it ended with death. Our desire to learn
wisdom, to work righteousness, to attain
pure joy, can never be completely satisfied
on earth. These desires are good ; they
come from God ; they testify to our im-
mortality, for the God who sent them loves
us and will not suffer any good thing to
be lost.

Unless we can accept as a vital principle
of our faith the fact that the love of our
fellow-men is a necessary development of
our love for God, domestic and social
life lose their sanctity. If the service
of man is a form of divine service,
passion and self-interest cannot tempt us
to deny our domestic and civic obligations.
Moreover, in reverencing the unity of God
as revealed in His creation, we are ready
to work without reward to brighten lives
yet unborn.

. When Frederic William of Prussia ordered
his chaplain to prove in one sentence the
truth of religion, he answered, "The Jews,

26 Thoughts on Judaism

Your Majesty ! " This story cannot fail to
gratify our vanity, but it should also quicken
our sense of responsibility. The Jews con-
tinued to exist through ages of sorrow,
ignorance and persecution. They preserved
the holy purity of their faith in spite of all
temptations and misfortunes. It was difficult
enough to remain faithful, to resist the
temptation of perjury. Again and again
they could have bought comfort and ad-
vancement for themselves and for their
children by denying the faith which they
had inherited. But they remained true.
They declared their allegiance to God and
their faith in His love and in the claims of
personal service. But they did not stop at
mere verbal declaration. If they had not
shown that their faith in God inspired
righteous conduct, that it affected their
common everyday life, then no inspiring
lesson could be drawn from their survival.
But throughout the ages the Jews believed
in God and this belief affected their conduct.
They were at peace although they were
surrounded by deadly foes ; God satisfied all

Thoughts on Judaism 27

their highest longings, although they lived
in penury ; and they were free in the midst
of their bondage, because they believed
themselves to be both the servants and the
children of God.

To-day, in England, we are surrounded by
different temptations. Life is easier ; the
roads to prosperity and success are open to
us. Our needs are less obvious and crude
than those of past generations ; nevertheless,
the obligation to praise God is less easily
remembered than that of petitioning Him.
Prosperity seems to have dulled our sense of
gratitude instead of quickening it, and to
have increased our greed. Perhaps, also,
the importance of declaring our faith in the
one God is less apparent since other com-
munities have proclaimed their allegiance to
Him. But surely life can never be easy to
live well. We stumble forward and new
rocks are in our path. We look into the
future and new opportunities of service in-
fluence our imagination. As we go forward
we need light and yet more light, and this
light can be supplied by our faith. As we,

28 Thoughts oft Judaism

with our improved opportunities, grow in
intellectual and moral power, our faith
should grow in intensity. A religion is
dead unless it can satisfy the needs of a
progressing civilisation.

We claim that Judaism embodies vital
and eternal principles which can in all ages
lead men to righteousness. Unless we
believe ourselves to be the appointed
guardians of these truths, we shall not be
able to resist the temptation to merge our
life with the life of the majority. Separate-
ness involves self-sacrifice ; the continuance
of our brotherhood is not possible without it.
The pain of this sacrifice disappears when
the privilege of service is recognised.

CHAPTER III

IN the two previous chapters we have dis-
cussed some of the vital principles of Judaism.
If the principles are vital, then they must
belong to all time. If devotion to the faith
made Moses lead a good life in the wilder-
ness thousands of years ago, this same
devotion must also help us in England to-
day. Life is certainly changed : our work
and responsibilities are different, our
pleasures and pains are different, our hopes
and aims are no longer the same. But,
nevertheless, truth is eternal, and we are
convinced that allegiance to Judaism can
make modern life beautiful and good. In-
deed, if we are to preserve Judaism as a
definite religion, we must show forth its
beauty in our lives. Let us by a few ex-
amples see how the principles of Judaism

can affect and ennoble the conduct of the

29

30 Thoughts on Judaism

ordinary everyday life with which we are
familiar.

We believe God to be One. Therefore,
He is Omnipresent. There is then sur-
rounding us, near us, in our hearts, a Being
perfectly true, beautiful and good. We
know this Being to be God. We cannot
see Him ; we can only see evidences of His
presence when we ourselves are in certain
receptive moods. But He is ever present,
ever the same. We have by personal ex-
perience discovered that He possesses the
attributes of love and mercy. But we do
not know what He is. When we were
children we made fancy pictures of Him as
a strong and kind and tender man. But as
" grown-ups " we have learnt that He is not
Man. Inevitably we think of God as a
very fine ether or air all-pervading and pene-
trating, and we have a little bit of this ether
inside us, "in our souls," which we also re-
gard as a little something inside our bodies.
But this conception is not satisfactory. It is
difficult to pray to "air" or "ether." We
must try to think of God as a living spirit

Thoughts on Judaism 3 1

incalculably more noble and pure than any
form of life with which we are familiar. He
is spirit, but we know not what "spirit"
means. Seeing that He has no bodily form,
He has none of the limitations which belong
to human life. Possibly He has many attri-
butes of which as human beings we have no
conception. The cleverest and best people
cannot tell us what God is. They advise
us to do reverence to a mystery which we
cannot understand, and to thank God for the
faith which gives joyousness to our lives and
which could not exist without the mystery.
This faith is the direct gift of God, and it
satisfies a want in our lives by inducing us
to pray. If we admit that we cannot under-
stand what God is because He is perfect,
and we cannot understand perfection, we
shall still be able to realise His presence.
We feel a living something within us which
is good and makes for goodness if we allow
it to control our lives. This something can
commune with a Power outside itself. We
know by personal experience that this com-
munion is possible and no other evidence of

32 Thoughts on Judaism

the existence of God is necessary. At any
time and in any place we can speak our
hearts to God. Therefore we believe Him
to be Omnipresent. By communion with
God we discover some of His attributes.
Because we find God perfectly loving, and
merciful and true, we prove by experience
the truth of the faith which He has given us.
When we pray we experience His help.
Through communion with God, our eyes are
opened to see the perfectly beautiful elements
in His work outside our own lives, and these
elements are evidences of His being. They
cannot be created by man. They belong to
God and reveal His purity. We cannot
measure the degree of God's holiness, but
we can believe it to be immeasurable. We
can derive ever new sustenance from the
source of life and believe that the supply
can never be exhausted. It is best for us
to think of God's attributes and not en-
deavour to penetrate further into the mystery
of His being. Enough for us to believe
that He works in righteousness. Let us
imitate the Psalmist's example and say, —

Thoughts on Judaism 33

" Lord, my heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty,
Neither do I exercise myself in great matters
Or in things too wonderful for me.
Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul ;
Like a weaned child with his mother
My soul is with me like a weaned child.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and for evermore."

What difference does the presence of God
— with Whom we can have communion —
make to us? It makes us care for the
right things ; it gives us a standard with
which to compare our human conceptions ;
it gives us an ideal. Let us again illus-
trate our meaning from our conception of
love — the best conception we know in life.
The existence of perfection outside us, makes
us seek the best form of love. In marriage
it helps us to distinguish between animal
passion and spiritual affinity. We seek to
make our home life pure and beautiful, free
from jarring strife and vicious habits, so that
it may be in harmony with the nature of
God. God has made us in His image. At
the moment of temptation or of anger, we
may be saved, if we remember the ideal

c

34 Thoughts on Judaism

towards which we strive, and endeavour to
let perfect love, existing without, be reflected
in our hearts. We cling to this ideal of
love, and control ourselves to resist the
momentary self-indulgence, which may drive
it from our homes. We are ready to make
many sacrifices in order to preserve it.
The ideal of perfect truth, as well as the
ideal of love, may help us in our difficulties.
We know how easy it is to lie. Were it not
for our belief in the Ideal, we should be
sometimes tempted to think that truthfulness
was not a really necessary virtue. It seems
occasionally so useful to deceive, it helps us
to get on. Sometimes our country's laws
are irksome and prevent us from doing what
we like. For example, the housing laws
prevent us from getting the rooms we wish ;
the education laws force us to send our
children to school when they would be useful
at home ; industrial laws forbid us to employ
people under the improper conditions which
suit our pockets ; anti-gambling laws prevent
us from making money in ways convenient
to ourselves. Most of these laws can be

Thoughts on Judaism 35

evaded by skilful deceit. But fortunately
such deceit is impossible to people, who
realise their responsibilities, when they dare
to call themselves Jews. There is a God of
truth, and we declare ourselves His servants.
We can only serve Him by truth, for no
other form of service is acceptable to
Him. However difficult the struggle, how-
ever unpleasant, we must seek to approach
nearer to the Ideal of Truth which sur-
rounds our lives. It is near us in our
homes and in our workshops. If we want
to make our lives at one with God, they
must be free from deceit, which is hateful
unto Him.

There is another way in which the idea of
God's presence can help to raise the standard
of our lives. We all know how we feel
when we meet a person whom we love and
respect very much. We want to be at our
best. If ugly thoughts come into our minds
we chase them away ; we try to do and say
the things which would please him. We try
to let nothing jar on his standard of good.
Now, does it not seem clear that, if in our

36 Thoughts on Judaism

own lives we could realise at all times God's
presence, we should try as hard as possible
to be better ? The ideal of perfection would
induce us to make efforts ourselves to
approach nearer to God. We should try to
conquer the habits which separate us from
Him. Let us just fancy what would happen
if one morning all men were to realise the
idea of God's presence and cling to it
throughout the day. In London the work-
ing men and women rushing along in tubes,
trains and 'buses, the women going about
their household avocations, the children in
the schools, the business men in their offices,
the professional men at their desks, the
idlers, the workers, rich and poor, learned
and unlearned, all these knowing themselves
in the presence of God would seek good and
not evil. Thoughts, words and deeds would
be sanctified ; God's rule would be recog-
nised on earth ; His creatures would praise
Him in righteousness.

The idea of God's omnipresence increases
our reverence for life. Life must be beauti-
ful, since God is revealed in life. When

Thoughts on Judaism 37

we find good people we must respect them,
whatever their race or creed or social
position. Their goodness reflects God's
goodness. We pay it the homage which is
its due. Moreover, no man can be entirely
bad, since all men are the children of God.
It should then be our effort to discover the
influence of the divine, even in characters
otherwise brutal. In beautiful works of art,
too, we can find God. Sometimes these
works of art do not appeal to us at first.
Perhaps we have not studied enough to
understand them ; it takes time to recog-
nise their power and we are too busy to
devote this time. Yet when we are told
that these artistic creations are the efforts
of men and women, who saw God's beauty
in the world and tried to reproduce it
in their work, whether in music, painting
or books, we feel reverence for the artist.
We even make an effort to understand his
work.

The presence of God is perhaps still better
realised, when we are fortunate enough to
go into the country, and see God's beauty

38 Thoughts on Judaism

revealed in nature. When, for example, we
lie on the top of a hill covered with heather
— lovely in colour and in scent — and we
look up to a sky which is perfect in its
cloudless beauty, pure joy enters into our
soul. The world seems absolutely beautiful
— God's presence pervades all, and every
flower and blade of grass seems to rejoice
in His glory.

There is a tendency in modern times to
dwell on the ugly and evil side of life.
This attitude of mind sometimes leads
to coarseness. We revel in things brutal,
until we ourselves become less delicate in
our sensibility. Perhaps we think that ugly
sights and sounds and thoughts cannot harm
us, since we can distinguish between good
and evil. " Knowledge is good," we say.
" Why should we fear it ? " This kind of
argument often leads young men and women
to dull their senses with the study of im-
purities, and in spite of their self-reliance,
they gradually find it more and more difficult
to "wash themselves and make themselves
clean." Life is short, and while we busy

Thoughts on Judaism 39

ourselves with the contemplation of vice,
the years slip past. Then we have no time
to see the glory of the Lord, of which the
whole earth is full. We do not seek to
approach the Perfect Love and Truth and
Beauty which is by our side. We are too
busy peering into the mud which lies
beneath us.1

According to the second vital principle
of Judaism, the God of the Universe has
relations with each individual soul. This
belief must certainly increase our self-respect.
God dwells, we may venture to say, within
us. He blesses our lives with a Spirit
emanating from Himself. He requires us
to keep that spirit pure and strong with
an increasing strength. The body, which
conceals, and at the same time reveals that
spirit, must be kept healthy and clean.
Any impure act, or word, or thought renders
us less conscious of the God within us.
God has endowed us with the gifts of body,
mind and heart, and since we are responsible

1 The problem of the existence of evil is referred to on
page 13.

4<D Thoughts on Judaism

to Him for our lives, we are responsible for
the manner in which we use His gifts. We
cannot excuse ourselves by crying that life
is short, goodness is difficult. We eat and
sleep, work and play, love and die, but is
that the end of all? God has given us
Eternity in which to complete our lives.
He has enriched us with aims and longings
which we cannot satisfy on earth. He has
bidden us cultivate a learning spirit, and
approach with humility and hope the kingdom
of the Unknowable.

God has relations with each human soul.
He cares about each of us, even the smallest
and humblest of us. He will help us in
our hour of difficulty; if we will seek His
help, He will strengthen us. Our joy is
pleasing unto Him. He pities us in our
times of sorrow. He is ever ready to help
us. We need have no fear. " Seek the
Lord at all times, call upon Him while He
is near." Some of us are apt to think that
our lives are of little consequence. It cannot
matter much, what we do. In the industrial
world, we are not much regarded. We do

Thoughts on Judaism 41

our work and receive our wages. If we fail
to satisfy our employer, he will send us
away, and a hundred other people will be
ready to take our place. We are cheap
articles. Why should we trouble ? Judaism
teaches that no soul is cheap. It has dignity,
for it emanates from God — its destiny is
with God. He cares what becomes of us.
He expects us to be good. He will help
us to do what is right. If we do our work
for the sake of our wages — just well enough
to be paid — we are working in the spirit of
slaves. We are obeying the law of force.
If, instead, we put our best into our work,
and do it as well as we possibly can, we
are serving God as free "men and women
should, and our work is pleasing in His
sight. We are obeying the law of Love.
God loves us. He accepts our efforts to do
right, even as in ancient days, He accepted
the sacrifices of our fathers which were
made in the spirit of devotion. We need
never be afraid to acknowledge ourselves
the children and servants of God, " Who
brings every work into judgment, whether

42 Thoughts on Judaism

it be good or whether it be evil." We
may venture to ask God to bless our
work, in spite of its many imperfections,
if we try strenuously to labour in His
name.

Judaism teaches ' that we are directly re-
sponsible to God for our lives, that if we
sin, we must bear the consequences of our
sin. We know that, however much we try,
our weakness is so great that our lives must
necessarily be imperfect. We can only rely
upon God's mercy and love and pity. We
must live so that at the end of our lives
we may say, as we commit our spirits to
God, "We tried to do our best; we remem-
bered Thy trust." It will surely not be
enough for us to say, " We never meant to
do any harm. We lived from day to day
and did our work, and enjoyed ourselves
and interfered with nobody." We are put
into the world for some higher purpose than
to "do no harm." We have to try to do
a little good, and to leave a small corner

1 See page 12, concerning the third vital principle of
Judaism,

Thoughts on Judaism 43

of the world rather better than we found
it. There is a meaning and a purpose
in our life, since we serve God through
our actions. We can never fully develop
our powers, for they reach towards per-
fection, and we can never be perfect on
earth. We can never do enough in the
service of man, for God requires that we
should love our neighbours as ourselves,
and we can never do enough for our-
selves.

The individual life, then, is important be-
cause it comes from God and must be re-
turned to Him, because God loves all His
creatures and gives them their strength.
Further, no human being can live alone.
Each affects his surroundings. If his life is
impure, he injures those, with whom he
comes in contact; he sullies God's world; he
increases the amount of evil and ugliness
which help to conceal the vision of Per-
fection from those who need it most.
Therefore, the love of our neighbours is a
necessary development of the love of God.1
1 See page 14, iv.

44 Thoughts on Judaism

We must labour to give our fellow-citizens
the opportunities for self-realisation which
we ourselves desire. The progress of the
State depends on the progress of the indi-
viduals who make up the State. No failure
on the part of our neighbours can leave us
untouched. If we dare to ignore the need
of any human being, on the ground that we
are not related to him, we do so at our
peril. The God who has fashioned all
races of men has bound them together
in their dependence on Him. If our
duties towards the State are religious in
character, the conduct of our home life
should surely also be consecrated to God.
God sanctifies the bonds which unite
husbands to wives and parents to children.
In this sense we may believe that mar-
riages are made in heaven. Men and
women, who disregard their obligations to
one another, forget their responsibilities to
the Omnipresent God. When we hear to-
day of Jewish husbands deserting their
wives, of wives neglecting their duties,
we wonder whether our community is

Thoughts on Judaism 45

going to lose one of its chief glories. In
the past, the sanctity of home life was
zealously cherished among all sections of
Jews. Mezuzotk* on the doorposts sym-
bolised a truth which was recognised and
obeyed. The Mezuzoth are now not always
discarded from homes where unfaithfulness
has banished love. What a mockery cere-
monial observance becomes, when it is
disassociated from a moral life ! We in-
evitably degrade our inheritance, when we
are faithful to ceremonials and forget the
ethical teaching of our faith. A man
cannot be a good Jew, if he neglects the
duties which he has taken upon himself
as husband and father. To his children
the inheritance of Judaism passes.

We dare not neglect the principles
which should inspire our lives and be trans-
mitted to our children. We are charged

1 The Mezuzah is a piece of parchment on which are in-
scribed the verses in Deut. vi. 4-9 and xi. 13-20. The parch-
ment is rolled together, put into a small case, and fixed on
the right-hand doorpost. A small opening is left in the case,
through which the Hebrew word for Almighty, written on the
back of the scroll, is visible.

46 Thoughts on Judaism

by God to speak unto the generations of
His love and of His goodness. If we are
silent we sin against God.

As individuals, if not as parents, we
must endeavour to render our lives ac-
ceptable to God. We have to remember
that we are members of a brotherhood
that exists for a definite religious purpose.1
If we bring shame on ourselves, we bring
shame on our community. A Jew, who
is dishonest in commerce, who engages in
degrading pursuits, injures not only him-
self and his family but also his community.
By greed and ostentation we betray our
co-religionists, we cause our enemies to
rejoice in our discomfiture. Even as our
mission is noble, so ought our conduct to
be beyond reproach. Judaism cannot in-
fluence the world, unless its followers earn
the world's respect by reason of their
virtue. Not by riches, nor by knowledge,
can we cause God's name to be glori-
fied, but by " doing justice, loving mercy,
and walking humbly with our God." The
1 See page 15, V,

Thoughts on Judaism 47

charge, which God has laid upon our
brotherhood, is a heavy charge. We
cannot escape our responsibilities. We
would fit ourselves more earnestly for their
faithful discharge.

CHAPTER IV

WE have in the previous chapters enumer-
ated the vital principles of Judaism, and
discussed their influence on modern life.
We have now to ask ourselves — On what
authority do we base our belief? Where
do we find these principles established which
we have ventured to formulate ?

The so-called orthodox section of Jews
would reply that these principles do not
comprehend Judaism. To them, Judaism
means the observance of the Pentateuchal
and Rabbinical law, and through obedience
to that law they attain to righteousness.
The formulating of principles is to them
a matter of secondary importance. The
supreme duty is to obey the law, which
has been handed down from generation to
generation, and this obedience teaches them

self-restraint and self-sacrifice. This book

48

Thoughts on Judaism 49

is not addressed to men and women be-
longing to this school of thought. To those
who accept the verbal inspiration of the
Bible and its miraculous divine revelation,
religious duty is too clear to require com-
ment. No consideration of ease, self-ad-
vancement or parental indulgence can
justify the law-breaker, who regards the law,
as the embodiment of God's eternal word.

We can feel little sympathy with those,
who shirk a duty on the grounds of its irk-
someness, who are sceptical merely through
selfishness.

These Apostates perhaps deserve some of
the anathemas, which are flung indiscrimin-
ately at the unobservant — although con-
version to religious observance is seldom

o

accomplished by abuse. But in our com-
munity to-day, there is a large class of Jews
who are unobservant, because their Judaism
no longer rests on the authority of the
Pentateuch. They findit instead in human
conscience, in experience and in history.

We have only to formulate this changed
conception, in order to recognise its difficulties

50 Thoughts on Judaism

and dangers. Indeed at the first shock
we fancy that a religion based on human
conscience, must be a religion of conflicting,
chaotic principles. It is only after careful
consideration that we are led to a different
conclusion, and to realise that a religion
based on the authority of conscience, makes
a supreme demand on the noblest faculties
with which man is endowed. The experi-
ence of prayer shews that there is com-
munion between man and God, and there-
fore in the language of our childhood, we
may still venture to define conscience as the
Voice of God within man, and we need not
be afraid to be guided by its authority. It
leads us to recognise the existence of the
Good, the True and the Beautiful as re-
vealed in all forms of spiritual life, and to
find the noblest ethical lessons in the Bible,
and in the lives and works of the best men
of all ages. Seeing that God is true, we
admit that He can only be served by truth,
and therefore we are induced to make the
conduct of our lives conformable to the
highest conceptions of truth, to which, with

Thoughts on Judaism 51

the help of the thinkers and teachers of all
ages, we are able to attain. The best minds
devoted to the study of religious history and
of the Bible guide us in our search after
truth. We dare not be afraid of their con-
clusions. Judaism must be able to survive
the scrutiny of the keenest human intellect,
directed towards the sacred literature. It
is a sort of blasphemy to withhold mind from
the study of God's word.

Earnest, reverent study induces us to
believe only in the partial inspiration of the
Bible, and in the diverse ethical value of its
component parts. We find in the Bible the
noblest conception of God and goodness ever
given to the world. The Book contains the
finest ideals of conduct ever formulated by
men, and we dare not disregard its teaching.
We dare not neglect the noble, ethical
precepts contained in the Bible, on the
ground that they are sometimes followed by
contributions from less-inspired souls. Let
us seek the best in the Bible and when we
find it, let us admit that God — the Perfect
God — has allowed His spirit to rest upon

52 Thoughts on Judaism

His servants and they have spoken His
will. Then let us do homage to their
teaching.

There is a terrible danger in evading the
duty of seeking God's Word in the Bible.
Of course we can excuse ourselves in
numbers of ways. We can even pretend
that we are not certain enough of selecting
wisely ; therefore we will escape altogether
the duty of selection. Let us remind our-
selves again, that we are responsible to God
for the use of our powers. The consciousness
of our imperfections, is no justification for
those of us, who are backward in God's
service. Moses was slow of speech, but God
chose him as His messenger. He gave him
the help he needed to do the work which was
demanded of him. We need not then be
discouraged by the knowledge, that our best
intellectual efforts must necessarily be
terribly imperfect. We will grope after truth
although our sight is dim ; our own faults
often shut the light from us, but God is
merciful. When we seek His word with
reverence, zeal and humility, God in His

Thoughts on Judaism 53

unspeakable love allows a ray of light to fall
over our lives and to guide our conduct.
No single human being can expect during his
short life on earth to learn everything about
goodness and God. His own limitations and
imperfections limit the possible rewards of
his search. His want of success convinces
him of the existence of heaven. May we not
believe that to the gathering of all God's
servants from all ages, countries and creeds
beyond the veil, there will be revealed
complete truth?

We have tried to show in the previous
chapters that, without reference to the Bible,
man may, by communion, derive from God
the principles which should guide a Jewish
life, and that by experience he may prove
their truth. If thoroughly realised, they
stimulate righteous conduct in all who pro-
claim allegiance to them. But we are a
religious brotherhood, and devotion to the
Bible is necessary, if we are to perform our
mission to humanity. We are guardians of
the spiritual treasure which the world has
received ; we are the descendants of those

54 Thoughts on Judaism

who bore testimony to the unity of God. Our
existence by that unbroken descent is part
of that testimony. The record of lives
illuminated by the principles of Judaism, is
needed by humanity. The gradual de-
velopment of these principles by Jewish
teachers, prophets and seers, helps men
of all creeds to-day to seek God and
to serve Him in righteousness. We are
the guardians of these records. Moreover,
we need the Bible teaching for ourselves,
for it affords us instruction, refreshment,
consolation and encouragement. After com-
munion with God in worship, our conscience
testifies to the truth of the noblest revelations
contained in the Bible. The study of the
Bible requires from us self-sacrifice and
perseverance. If we would really receive
its inspiration, we must seek it in a humble,
reverent, learning spirit ; we must be willing
to think, before we hope to understand. If
we would sift the best from the less good, we
must attune ourselves to the right mood for
study. We are not always in the mood for
Bible study, any more than we are at all times

Thoughts on Judaism 55

fit to hear beautiful music or to read ex-
quisite poetry. But it is good to train
ourselves to study the Bible for a few quiet
moments every day. Thus we may not
only become so familiar with its beautiful
teaching, that it may gradually affect our
minds and characters, but the habit of study
may also imbue us with the spirit of rever-
ence.

Through trying to know God through the
Bible, we may gradually learn to seek Him
in all things good and beautiful.

The Bible narrative records the lives of
men and women whose weaknesses and
virtues were very much like our own. They
felt their dependence on God — that depend-
ence which we all experience. The Psalms
also contain the reflections of almost every
human mood. In these poems of sadness and
of joy, of repentance and of anger, of trust-
fulness and thanksgiving, there is always the
same note of yearning. While speaking their
simple word to God — the psalmists yearn to
be at one with Him, to let His love enter their
souls. As we read of the submission of the

56 Thoughts on Judaism

human will to the will of God, we begin to
understand and to share the longings of a
broken and a contrite heart ; we realise the
possibilities of worship and of the union of
human beings in the service of God. Some
of the Psalms reflect a higher religious tone
than others. Even in the same psalm, we
often find verses of different ethical value —
the products of several grades of civilisation.
But we are conscious that no single psalm is
insincere. Every word rings true. We
reverence it as the expression of a man's
soul. Face to face with God, the Psalmist is
conscious of his sins ; he strains towards per-
fection and the ideal seems to move higher
and higher above his plane, as he struggles
upward. As we read, we hear in reply to the
Psalmist's passionate cry of disappointment
and despair, the whisper of God's love — the
whisper which is caught up by the ages and
echoed and re-echoed in triumphant sounds
of hopefulness and trust. The perfect com-
munion between man and God described in
the Psalms gives us courage. We too will
say our word — we too will cry to God— we

Thoughts on Judaism 57

too will shout for joy, since we are alive and
have the power to learn and to love. God
hears us. God answers us.

For us in these days of moral laxity, self-
indulgence and materialism, the writings of
the Prophets are full of rousing exhortation.
These old teachersare stern in their simplicity.
They insist on unselfishness and uprightness,
on effort. It is no use, they tell us, for us to
fill our temples with images of self, and say
we cannot see God. God is here in our lives,
crying to us to make ourselves clean, to turn
to Him and to live.

These prophets made sacrifices for the
sake of truth. Again and again God forced
His revelation upon them, His truth entered
their hearts; they dared not be silent.
Sometimes they had to give up their comfort
and ease and throw themselves completely
into the struggle against evil. Frequently
they had to incur the anger of their
contemporaries. In the cause of truth
they had to speak the word which was
nighest to them. They could not flee
from God's presence — they could not

58 Thoughts on Judaism

renounce the charge which He placed upon
them.

As we read of these strong men of old
we pray God to give courage to our genera-
tion. The old struggle is still raging around
us, the struggle against religious indifference
and negation, against moral weakness and
deceit. The sadness of isolation is on
God's people ; His voice cries and is not
heard by men.

The Bible tells us how Jonah was loth
to warn the people of Nineveh of the
punishment that was overtaking them.
They did not belong to his school of
religious thought, and he was therefore in-
different to their doom. But the unwilling
servant was shewn his error and was made
to recognise the universal fatherhood of
God. His words of warning caused the
people to repent, and, before his wondering
eyes, God's mercy was revealed.

A modern Jonah would also be forced
to warn men of the misery of sin, and draw
them by words of love and sympathy to
experience the joys of divine communion.

Thoughts on Judaism 59

We cannot imagine that he would be allowed
to leave many members of his brotherhood
in indifference or apathy, because they could
not, or would not believe in and follow all
the words of the law. He would have,
nevertheless, to admit that they too were
precious in the eyes of the Lord and might
deserve to share the joys of religion.

God knows the hearts of men and will
surely not judge those as wicked, who en-
deavour to live honestly according to the
light which He has given them.

A modern Jeremiah could not plead
pressure of duties, and the pleasures of
home life as an excuse for silence, when
his eyes were opened to see the materialistic
tendencies of his age. The thought of God's
righteousness would overwhelm him. He
would risk the pain of misunderstanding
and invectives. If necessary, he would
sacrifice all the joys that sweeten life and
go forth among his brethren and force
them to come into the light of truth. If
he feared the disintegration of his com-
munity, the degradation of their faith, he

60 Thoughts on Judaism

would not cry "Peace! peace!" for to him
there would be no peace.

Throughout the Bible, we find the highest
precepts for our guidance in every relation
of life. We also find many ceremonial
ordinances, which we are unwise to dis-
regard. Observances are needed by us as
aids to holiness, as reminders of God's
goodness. They serve as the best possible
links for binding our religious brotherhood
together, and as the most helpful of all
educational instruments.

We need hardly remind ourselves that
the ideal Jewish life consciously led, in the
presence of God is a high ideal, too difficult
for most of us to attain. To whatever
section of the community we belong, we
would assuredly make use of all the aids
to righteousness which we can find in our
Bible. Conduct can never be a matter of
indifference to the believing Jew, and he
can never be satisfied that his conduct has
attained the highest plane of rectitude, for
the Ideal of Perfection inspires his life.
Observances are necessary to emphasise

Thoughts on Judaism 61

the bond which unites us with God. Other-
wise, with our limited powers of vision,
we may so easily become chained to the
actual interests of the moment and forget
the " Better beyond," which just touches
our horizon, and lights it with a beautiful pure
light. While seeking an ethical meaning
in all our observances, we should remember
that the usefulness of ceremonials is im-
measurably increased by the devotion of
our fathers. The impress of their sacrifice
makes these observances more lovable in
our eyes. But they have no ethical value,
when regarded merely as survivals of an
age that has entirely passed away ; if they
are worth preserving, they must make a
direct appeal to the conduct of life with
which we are familiar. They should remind
us of God's presence and lead us nearer
to His throne ; they should give the
necessary discipline to those who exercise
themselves in works of holiness.

CHAPTER V

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES ARE NEEDED AS AIDS
TO HOLINESS

EVEN in the simplest period of human ex-
istence, men and women could never have
found it easy to lead righteous lives.
But to-day, when there is so much to do,
that we must all necessarily be in a hurry,
there seems less time than formerly to
think about God and about goodness. Life
has become very complicated now that we
no longer live huddled together in a ghetto,
allowed only to follow certain trades and
professions, and obliged to wear badges
to distinguish us from our emancipated
fellow-citizens.

In England, to-day, every variety of oc-
cupation is open to us, and we need

62

Thoughts on Judaism 63

guidance in selection. Honest work, well
accomplished, is a form of service which
we may offer to God for acceptance. It
is therefore of supreme importance that we
choose our work wisely. The Jew, who
recognises the omnipresence of God must
lead a consecrated life. He can hardly
expect the divine blessing to rest on him,
if he spends his time in acquiring wealth
by unfair methods. In our seasons of
prayer, we seek God's judgment on our
work and in the light of His perfection we
realise our many failures and ask for help
that we may in future act more worthily.
Further, the craving for wealth may over-
whelm us and spoil our lives by absorbing
them, if we do not set days apart for the
study of God's laws. Of course, we all
know that any day is God's day, that He
is ready at all times to hear our prayers,
but the interests of the world are often so
powerful as to crush out from our minds
the memory of His "very present help."
By religious observance, we are reminded
of God's presence — of the possibility of

64 Thoughts on Judaism

drawing a little nearer to the ideal of
Truth, Beauty and Goodness which sur-
rounds our lives.

We are well provided with pleasures of all
sorts in modern England. But these pleasures
cease to make life delightful when they are
used not to sweeten labour, but as ends and
objects in themselves. Moreover, some of
these so-called pleasures are degrading, for
they can only be enjoyed by those whose
self-respect is dead. God means His servants
to be happy, to rejoice in His presence.
Judaism is altogether misconceived by those
who imagine its influence depressing and
gloomy. We serve God when we seek
pure joy. But it is during our religious
observances, that we have time to question
ourselves as to our choice of amusements.
Are they innocent ? we ask. Do they afford
us true recreation? In the rush and whirl
of life, we are inclined to deceive ourselves,
and unless we pause every now and then
to consider the tendency and motives of
our conduct, we may rush into amusements
which we can only value as an excuse for

Thoughts on Judaism 65

vicious self-indulgence. We must hallow
the joys of living, of learning, and of doing,
by using them in the service of God. Our
bodies and minds need occasional refresh-
ment, and we rejoice that the English
national conscience is beginning to recognise
and to provide for this need. When in our
hours of prayer we seek communion with
God, we realise that our capacity for pure
happiness must be used in the search after
the best in life, and the very fact that this
capacity can never be completely satisfied,
stimulates our faith in immortality.

Religious observances help us to be at
peace in the midst of the anxiety of every-
day life. We clear a space in our hearts for
the love of God to rest there, and in trying
to cherish this love, we are able to resist the
temptations to greed and self-indulgence,
which may assail us.

We cannot fail to be affected by the re-
ligious doubts and controversies which rage
on all sides of us. In our own souls, we
experience our periods of conflict when we

question the meaning of the struggle against

E

66 Thoughts on Judaism

evil which flourishes in spite of all human
effort. We, too, ask ourselves sometimes,
"Where is thy God?" Our observances
carry us back to the days of our childhood,
when with joy in our hearts we went
into the courts of God and praised His
name. Once more, something of the child
trust steals into our hearts and we are
satisfied to rest in God and to do His
will.

The trust of thinking men and women
is different from that of children. It is
strengthened by the doubts which have
been overcome, and the sacrifices which have
been made for its sake. Nevertheless, the
consolations of faith are most easily ex-
perienced, when we adopt the receptive
attitude of children, when we recognise how
little we know, and how much we want to
know, how small we are, and what great
things we should like to do. These moods
come most easily to those who are trained in
the habit of observance.

There is no pain more troublesome than
the pain of monotony, when day follows

Thoughts on Judaism 67

day with dreary sameness, when we know
our work so well that it makes no demand on
our imaginations.

It is our observances which help to bring
variety into our lives. They suggest possi-
bilities of self-development and of service.
They give us time to think, and to plan, and
to hope. Realities alone can oppress us ; in
the kingdom of fancy there is joy.

Religious observances strengthen the bonds
uniting the members of our brotherhood.
When we remember that on certain days, at
certain times, Jews all over the world are
engaged in the same religious exercise, we
feel the stimulus of the corporate ideal. We
become more conscious of the mission to
which it is our privilege to be called. We
read in the Book of Kings how Elijah, after
his great triumph over the prophets of Baal,
felt overwhelmed by a feeling of loneliness.
He had proved himself a faithful servant of
God, he had caused his Master's dominion
to be acknowledged by those who hitherto
had been led astray by false teaching ; yet,
as he wandered through the wilderness

68 Thoughts on Judaism

and sank down under a tree to rest, he
cried, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take
away my life, for I am not better than
my fathers." But God bade him arise and
gave him more work to do, and reminded
him that there were many other men in
Israel who, like himself, had not bowed
their knees to false gods. For us, too, in
our humble lives it is an immense comfort,
either in our times of joy or of sadness, to
know that we are not alone. Other men are
experiencing the same hopes and fears as
ourselves ; others are seeking to speak their
word to God. The feeling of sympathy
which binds us as a religious brotherhood
is emphasised, when we come together for
religious observance.

Prayer is an effort to reach to a higher
idea of life; as we strain upwards, we are
sustained by the thought that a common
purpose inspires us and our fellow-
worshippers. On holy days, when we
engage in public worship, we become con-
scious of a desire to serve our brotherhood.
Our hearts are kindled on the altars of

Thoughts on Judaism 69

God, and we become "unashamed of love."
No conventionality or artificial distinction
can separate us from our brethren in the
hour of prayer. Souls rush together in
their effort to praise God, the Father of
all.

We can hardly over-estimate the import-
ance of ceremonials as educational instru-
ments. Our children cannot realise abstract
ideas. In order that Judaism should have a
meaning to them, it must appeal to their
imaginations. It must also make a demand
upon them. All observances should be con-
nected with prayer in the child's mind — prayer
in which he must take part, which he must
thoroughly understand. I n the daily ordering
of our children's lives, we naturally set aside
certain times for certain duties, and no other
claims are allowed to interfere with the allot-
ment of these hours. For example, the hours
of school, and of sleep, and of meals are in a
measure sacred for our children. We make
many sacrifices in order that they should not
be disturbed. Surely we are acting most
unwisely if we neglect to set aside some

7o Thoughts on Judaism

time also for worship and general religious
training.

We want our children to grow into good
men and women, strong enough to accom-
plish deeds of virtue. At our peril, we neglect
to give them the discipline which will lead
them to the realisation of God's presence, for
God is the source of the highest virtue. If
children once acquire the habit of worship,
it is never likely to leave them, even when
their lives become full of pressing cares and
harassing duties and bewildering ambitions.
Indeed, as years pass, they will grow more
and more dependent on the power of prayer
to create joy in their lives and to give them
courage to overcome every difficulty and
danger, which presents itself. The develop-
ment of life should include the strengthen-
ing of our faith. Conduct, let us remind
ourselves, is three - fourths of human life.
We want our children's conduct to be
influenced by the highest ideals ; we want
them to walk humbly with their God from
their earliest years. If they can once feel
the influence of God's love in their lives,

Thoughts on Judaism Ji

they will hate sin, for sin prevents them from
realising God.

In order that Judaism should be a living
religion to our children, its precepts must be
transmitted to them with intelligence and
loving care.1 We can, if we will, create an
atmosphere in our homes which shall be
conducive to prayer and aspiration. If we
venture simply and genuinely to admit our
conscious dependence on God for strength
and guidance in everyday life, we may in-
spire all the members of our household
with that reverence which alone makes
sincere worship possible. If we ourselves
perform perfunctorily the religious obligations
which we recognise in our home life, their
inspiring power will disappear. They will
be accomplished as tasks irksome in them-
selves and unrelated to other phases of our
daily lives. . . . Children hunger for sym-
pathy, and we cannot secure their love and
respect more readily than by convincing

1 This passage is taken from a paper on " Home Worship
and its Influence on Social Work," read at the Conference
of Jewish Women, May 1902.

7 2 Thoughts on Judaism

them that we, as they, are subject to tempta-
tions and determined to overcome them ; that
we too have knowledge of great weakness in
the presence of the difficulties which our
lives continually present to us, but that we
have supreme faith in God's pity and loving
kindness. How can we assure them of these
facts more forcibly than by inviting them to
pray with us ? Family worship should be
the most powerful link by which children
may be bound to their parents and to one
another. ... By asking God in the pre-
sence of our children to bless the work of our
lives, we can testify to our conception of the
sacredness of work, as the duty we owe to
man in the service of God.

By cherishing a knowledge of Hebrew in
our homes, we are encouraging our children
to appreciate their religious inheritance, for
they can through Hebrew better under-
stand the inward meaning of their sacred
literature. Also the knowledge of Hebrew
strengthens the bonds which unite English
Jews with their co-religionists in all parts of
the world. But, while recognising the bond

Thoughts on Judaism 73

of language as an important factor in the
religious development of the Jews, we must
remember that a knowledge of Hebrew is
not Judaism. It is, of course, very satis-
factory when our children are good Hebrew
scholars. Their learning is likely to lead
them to the most useful of all studies — the
study of the Bible. But, unless they have
acquired the habit of prayer, unless their
conduct reveals a devotion to Jewish
principles, they will not be equal to the
responsibilities which they have received
from God. In our home services, then, we
must emphasise above all things the neces-
sity of real intelligent communion with God,
and our worship must therefore include
some "made-up prayer" spoken in all
simplicity, sincerity and reverence in the
language most familiar to the worshippers.

We would desire to teach our children to
love religious observances and to recognise
their relation to modern life. This teaching
means sacrifice on the part of the parents
themselves. Not only have they to be
careful to perform their observances in

74 Thoughts on Judaism

the spirit of prayer, but they must give up
time for patient teaching, for answering
questions, for making explanations. Chil-
dren become indifferent to observances
which have no meaning to them. When they
are told, in answer to their questions, " Read
this," " Be quiet," " Go to synagogue," they
lose interest in the apparently meaning-
less observances, and contempt creeps into
their hearts. The "throwing off" later is
easy enough. If we let our children adrift
in the world without giving them the
anchors they need on their passage through
life, we incur a terrible responsibility. They
will have us to thank for their purposeless,
indifferent lives, for their weakness in times
of temptation, for their degradation. We
have received a great religious inheritance,
and, unless we pass it on in its beauty, we
are untrue to our trust. Indeed, it is right
to remind ourselves every now and again of
the sacrifices which our fathers made in the
cause of religious education. In times of
persecution, they suffered poverty and
every sort of ignominy, in order that they

Thoughts on Judaism 75

should hand the lamp of the Lord to us in
all its brightness. We have to trim that
lamp somewhat in order, that its light
should be seen by our generation.

If we refuse to give the lamp this
attention — if, instead, we place it in a
neglected corner, whence its brightness
cannot fall on our lives — our children will
live in darkness and see evil all their days.

Some of our religious observances have
a historical significance which adds to their
beauty, for it emphasises the idea of our
religious mission. Moreover, in studying the
manner in which our fathers celebrated festi-
vals and holy days, we can draw spiritual
lessons for ourselves to-day. For example,
in Biblical times, sacrifices were the important
feature of religious celebrations. It seems
strange to us, how in any age men should
have imagined the destruction of life to
be pleasing unto the God of Love, but, in
all our wonder, we must not forget to note
the spirit which animated the worshippers
of ancient days. They chose their most
valued possessions, and they gave them up

76 Thoughts on Judaism

willingly to the service of God. They felt
confident of His presence and of His
power to answer their prayers. All their
ceremonial rites were accomplished with a
reverence and dignity suitable to the
occasion. To-day, our forms of service are
spiritualised, and therefore more in harmony
with the views of our generation. But we
cannot improve very much on the spirit of
reverence and trust and of sacrifice which
inspired our fathers. We may even question
whether to-day we are sufficiently eager to
give of our best in the service of God ; whether,
when we enter our synagogues, we are really
so conscious of the Divine presence as to
speak our prayers in the full intensity of
faith ; whether we do endeavour to reveal
in our ceremonies our highest conception of
beauty. In some parts of the world, even
to-day, our co-religionists celebrate the
holy days with trembling. The sword of
persecution is still hanging over them, and
they fear lest their large assemblies may
rouse the superstitious fury of the ignorant
populace among whom they dwell. This

Thoughts on Judaism 77

fear seems only to strengthen their faithful-
ness. It affords them new opportunities
for self-sacrifice. In England we can
assemble, confident that our worship will
not be molested by our neighbours. This
fact should add a new meaning to our songs
of thanksgiving and give a new reason for
our faithfulness. Our less fortunate co-
religionists must be excused, if occasionally
the darkness of their surroundings enters
into their souls and shows itself by some
form of superstition in their services. Any
shortcoming on their part should render
our duty more obvious to ourselves. Our
worship must reveal the most enlightened
thought known to our generation. If it is
full of meaning and inspiration for the
guidance of conduct, its brightness will not
only irradiate our own lives and crown
them with the most beautiful possibilities,
but will also serve to compensate those
who suffer for their faith. A meaningless
relic of a past civilisation would hardly be
worth the sacrifices made in its name. Our
religion belongs not only to the past — it

78 Thoughts on Judaism

is part of the actual life which we are
leading to-day, and we believe that there is
no finality to its glorious possibilities, which
may be realised by the generations who
will follow us.

CHAPTER VI

IN a previous chapter it was said that re-
ligious observances must be tested by their
ethical value. If they suggest no moral
lesson applicable to modern life, it is our
obvious duty to discard them, for their
presence is likely to spoil our vision of God.
This duty of selection is incumbent on all
those Jews who do not believe in the verbal
inspiration of the Bible, and who endeavour
to devote their reason to the service of
God.

But if we study with reverence the Biblical
observances and conscientiously test their
ethical value, we shall generally be able to
derive from them some teaching applicable to
the spiritual needs of modern life. Let us re-
mind ourselves that if these observances do

79

8o Thoughts on Judaism

satisfy these needs, their age gives them
special interest, and should inspire us with
peculiar reverence. For long life in itself
claims our homage, when it represents the
accumulated strength of years.

Thus, when we recall the life of Moses
several examples of heroism and self-
sacrifice inflame our imagination, but the
last incident surpasses all in spiritual
grandeur. We see him standing up before,
the Egyptian king and demanding the de-
liverance of his people. Through a period
of anxiety and disappointment we note how
he learns something of God's love and
power of forgiveness. Stimulated by this
conception, he is able later, in spite of his
personal vexation, to pray that his people
may be forgiven for their faithlessness and
discontent. Finally, we see him on Mount
Nebo yielding up his spirit to God in
perfect trustfulness. Before his human
vision, stretches the Promised Land. To his
spirit is revealed the ideal of Perfect Love,
and he is at rest. He has done that part
of the work to which he had been called.

Thoughts on Judaism & i

In quiet confidence he leaves to his successor
the realisation of his own earthly hopes,
having lost none of his interest in his
people.

We admire the courage and self-sacrifice
of the leader in the presence of the enemy,
and still more, perhaps, when he is able to
forget the base ingratitude of those whom
he has served. But the full measure of our
reverence is given to him when, on the
eve of his death, he exhorts his people " to
be strong and of good courage in obeying
the behests of their God." So it is with
our ancient observances. The devotion
of ages kindles them into life ; they
yield to us the accumulated strength of
the past.

I have spoken in previous chapters of
the importance of home services, as an
educational influence in the lives of our
children. But I am well aware that the
tenement dwellings in which so many of our
co-religionists live, by their want of space
make daily family services almost impossible.1

1 Taken from the paper on " Home Worship."
F

&2 Thoughts on Judaism

There is one phase of family life, however,
which in every home can and should be sancti-
fied by prayer. I refer to the Sabbath eve
celebrations which should bind families close
together in the bond of holy fellowship.
This observance has never lost the blessings
of peace and hope with which it was en-
dowed by the devotion of our fathers, who
found in it the expression of God's promise
to all who struggle and suffer in the world.
As the children draw round the Sabbath
lights and sing hymns of thanksgiving to
their God, even the poorest, saddest home
is made beautiful. A holy peace rests on
each tired worker. They all remember
that the God of love understands their need
and has pity on them, when they try
courageously to bear their burdens. Parents
and children become conscious of God's
purpose in their lives. They realise their
responsibilities to Him, and together they
enter His courts and reverently ask Him
for strength to work out their lives in His
service. The beautiful story of Jacob's
dream suggests a Friday night lesson. The

Thoughts on Judaism 83

tired traveller, conscious of the guilt which
is upon him on account of his mean conduct
to Isaac, lies down by the roadside with a
stone for his pillow. It is only then when
he is in trouble, when he is cut off from his
family and his friends through his own
sin, that the idea of God's nearness is
revealed to him for the first time and his
religion acquires a meaning, which is to
influence his life. " And he dreamed and
behold a ladder set on the earth, and the
top of it reached to heaven, and behold the
angels of God ascending and descending on
it." Then he hears the voice of God telling
him of the work which he will have to
accomplish, in order that through him and
his seed all the families of the world shall
be blessed. " Then Jacob awaked out of
his sleep, and he said, ' Surely God is in
this place and I knew it not.' ' The same
desolate surroundings were visible to Jacob
when he awoke as on the previous night,
the same hard pillow was under his head,
but nevertheless the world had changed
for him. It was glorified, for he had

84 Thoughts on Judaism

begun to feel God's presence. So he went
forth to learn more about goodness and
God through hard work and self-sacrifice
and the sweet consolations of love. God
chose him as His Prince, and he spent his
life in trying to realise the full meaning of
that lesson, of which the first line was learned
when he exclaimed, " Surely God is in this
place and I knew it not." God is every-
where, and He loves righteousness. This
is the lesson, too, which the Sabbath eve
teaches, and thus the Sabbath eve observ-
ance may serve as a ladder by which
we may reach through prayer from earth
to heaven. It reminds us of God's pres-
ence and beautifies and ennobles our homes.
It fills our minds with visions which
strengthen us to go about our work and
trust to the help of God. It beautifies
the darkest corners of our lives with the
light of hope. A little girl once said,
"If you are naughty all the week, you
must at least be good on Friday night."
The child did not mean that Friday night's
goodness made up for the week's misdoings,

Thoughts on Judaism . 85

but she had been influenced by the spirit
of aspiration, which belongs to Friday night,
and felt that naughty words and thoughts
must not be allowed to spoil its holy
beauty.

There are Jews influenced by Oriental
conceptions, who still seem to think that
Judaism is less concerned with women than
with men. But the tendency of the Sabbath
eve observance is to broaden our con-
ception of Judaism and its ceremonials. We
realise their connection with life and their
general usefulness. Upon the mother de-
volves the duty of lighting the Sabbath
light, the symbol of the home, hallowed
by service. Upon her virtue and godli-
ness, does the purity of the home ultimately
rest.1

Life would be indeed earthy without its

1 When we hear [that some of our co-religionists spend
their Friday nights in going to theatres and music-halls, or
parties, or in card-playing, we feel that they are making a
terrible mistake — a mistake which may spoil their whole lives
and the lives of their children. By choosing the wrong time
for their amusements they cut themselves off from the
highest influences of Judaism. They are even desecrating
the sanctity of their homes.

86 Thoughts on Judaism

Sabbaths and holy days. They give us the
time so necessary for the tightening of those
links, which bind the soul to the God who
gave it. Nobody can desecrate the Sabbath
with work without being conscious of a
serious loss. Only absolute necessity should
drive us to Sabbath work. But if the
necessity is there, it can give us no excuse
to sever ourselves from the community.
Rather we must make more strenuous efforts
to create opportunities of public worship,
since through no fault of our own we
may be unable to attend the synagogues
at times when the authorised services are
being held there. If work is honest and
hallowed by the conception of God's
omnipresence, it will not need any diffi-
cult adjustment of ideas, in order that we
may pass from our workshop to the house
of prayer.

It is possible that existing synagogue
forms of service may fail to appeal to some
of us. But this indifference should not be
an excuse for us to remain away from public

Thoughts on Judaism 87

worship altogether. The fact that men
and women come together in prayer, in
itself gives us some useful food for
thought, and as we mingle our word with
that of other worshippers, our zeal is
strengthened by their fervour. We can
only hope to influence the form of ser-
vice authorised by our ecclesiastical autho-
rities, if we can prove it to be unsatisfying
after a long and regular attendance. It
is no use our saying that we dislike a
particular form, and therefore are indiffer-
ent to all Jewish worship. We must care
sufficiently to realise what we lack, and
keep so in touch with our community,
that when the opportunity arises we may
formulate our needs, and be assured of
a sympathetic hearing. It has been said
that the Sabbath should be a day of rest
and of worship. We need rest for our
bodies and change for our minds ; we need
prayer to strengthen us for the labours of
the week. If we must work, we can and
should still pray, but the necessity of work
should only be admitted when some real

88 Thoughts on Judaism

sacrifice has been vainly made to prevent
it. The Sabbath, besides being a day of
rest and of prayer, should be a joyful day —
a day when we can find time to rejoice in
the midst of our family and friends and
realise the message of kindliness which the
Sabbath proclaims. It should be a day of
pure recreation, when we can have re-
course to all sorts of quiet and refreshing
pleasures.

Some of us are inclined to point to very
observant Jews, whose religious professions
are not in harmony with their daily conduct,
and to pretend that their insincerity justifies
our complete indifference. But this attitude
is clearly illogical. Because some men hide
their ugly deeds behind the dazzling light
of specious holiness, we need not refuse to
seek true holiness ourselves. It is wiser
to put our own lives right and to recog-
nise our own shortcomings than to
worry about the failings of our neigh-
bours.

In the next chapter we will consider the
meaning of the Jewish holy days and ask

Thoughts on Judaism 89

how their observance can stimulate right
conduct. The general ethical value of
holy days, we have already attempted to
establish in discussing the helpfulness of
ceremonials.

CHAPTER VII

WE can find in each of the " Five " appointed
Holy days a deep, ethical meaning, if we
would seek it in a reverent spirit.

The Passover commemorates the deliver-
ance of our fathers from slavery in Egypt.
Some of the details of this deliverance, as
recorded in Exodus, are probably, to a certain
extent, legendary. Yet we may rightly believe
that the descendants of Jacob were working in
ignorance and pain for the Egyptian task-
masters, when they were led forth to the wilder-
ness where Judaism was founded as a national
religion. Through this religion, thus founded,
all the nations of the earth were ultimately to
be blessed. The hurried departure of the
Israelites is symbolised in our eating of un-
leavened bread on the Festival of Passover ;

many other incidents of their deliverance

90

Thoughts on Judaism 91

are commemorated in the " Seder " service.
These concrete and picturesque symbols
appeal to our imagination, and their observ-
ance greatly interests our children and
encourages them to study the history of
their race. But we do not " keep " Passover
by merely refraining from eating leaven in
any form whatever, throughout a week, or
in forbidding it to pass the threshold of our
homes. We must also try to realise the
lessons which Passover suggests, and allow
them to influence our conduct. On the
Festival of Passover we must not forget to
thank God for the privileges of our appoint-
ment, as witnesses to His goodness and
unity. We are heirs to that inheritance
which our fathers founded in the wilderness.
But we understand more clearly than they
possibly could, that this inheritance is one
involving work and self-sacrifice. They
were told to obey the precepts of the law,
in order that their days might be prolonged
in a land of abundance. We have learned
that our highest good is to be found in
works of righteousness, through which the

92 Thoughts on Judaism

spirit of God may be revealed to the world.
Our religion has passed to a broader and
more universal stage.

Through studying the history of the
Exodus, we see how the thought of God
can refine human life. The Jews were
persecuted slaves, living merely to escape
punishment. Their chief pleasures seem to
have been connected with eating, and even
when the blessing of liberty was conferred
on them, they were willing to sacrifice it if
only they could taste again the delicacies of
Egypt. This same people were taught to
acknowledge the tender care and love of
God, and gradually they and their children
became susceptible to the higher beauties of
life. The gentle consideration revealed in
some of the laws recorded in Leviticus
testifies to the fact, that the Jews had
emerged from barbarism. When they came
to be surrounded by savage tribes they re-
mained susceptible to high ideals, and gradu-
ally evolved the religion to which we are
devoted to-day. This transition from bar-
barism to civilisation was wrought by the

Thoughts on Judaism 93

gradual recognition of the Divine Father's
omnipresence. To-day some of us lead some-
what sordid lives, caring mainly for good
food and smart clothes and getting rich. We
have not realised God. If once the habit of
prayer is introduced into our lives, our coarse
pleasures will cease to absorb us and we
shall experience higher joys. The festival
of Passover should remind us that as a
nation was led out of its barbarous ignorance
by the knowledge of God, to recognise the
highest refinements of life, so may we, by
communion with Him, attain the blessings
of culture, even though we may be of humble
birth and means, and have few opportunities
for scholastic learning.

Passover is also the festival of liberty.
Again and again throughout the Bible we
are told to be considerate to the oppressed,
because our fathers were oppressed in the
land of Egypt. Their sad experiences
should inspire Jews of all times to be on the
side of justice and humanity in every struggle.
The week of Passover gives us the oppor-
tunity for self-examination, and we should

94 Thoughts on Judaism

ask ourselves particularly whether in the
conduct of our own lives, in our workshops
and in our homes, we are as kind as possible
to those who toil for us. An earnest woman
who is devoting her whole life to the cause
of industrial freedom, tells how her mother
worked in the mines in the days before the
passing of factory laws, and bore to the day
of her death the mark of the overseer's whip
on her shoulder. The pain of that blow has
inspired a noble life of unselfishness and
devotion to the cause of the oppressed. We
Jews are the heirs of pain ; across those
two thousand years which separate us from
the slaves in Egypt the sounds of lamenta-
tion echo in our ears and inspire us to feel
sympathy for all who suffer the misery of
persecution, or even the minor pain of loneli-
ness. Thus the festival of Passover rouses
our indignation against Russian or Turkish
misrule, and also our sympathy for the little
servant girl who drudges in our home, or
for the shop assistant who ministers to our
needs from behind the counter. And this
indignation and sympathy should be genuine

Thoughts on Judaism 95

and far-reaching. If the opportunity arises
for us to relieve the persecuted, we dare
not hesitate, lest the suffering of our fathers
should testify against us. We must also be
careful so to order our lives that no profit
or pleasure can come to us at the cost of
another human being's pain.1 " Let, at any-
rate, the season of the festival not pass away,
without our doing something in it, during the
very week while it lasts, to make somebody
or other a little happier, and to lessen for
a little while, or in a small degree, the load
of care or sorrow which so many people
around us have quietly and patiently to
bear.

"The Passover is therefore a festival of
hope and consecration, of thanksgiving and
gladness, of freedom and charity. It urges
us to look forward and strive to be grateful
to God the Giver and the Saviour, to bear
in mind the claims upon us of the stranger,
the fatherless and the widow. Remember
the past and work for the future ; hope and
help ; think and thank ; be strong and
1 Bible for Home Reading, Vol. I. p. 74.

g6 Thoughts on Judaism

strengthen ; rejoice and make rejoice ; these
and such as these are the watchwords of the
Passover."

The second of the great festivals of re-
joicing, the festival of Pentecost (the name
of Pentecost means the fiftieth day, from the
Greek Pentikonta, meaning fifty), is celebrated
seven weeks after Passover. Its meaning
has changed since Biblical times, when in
Palestine it was celebrated as a purely
agricultural festival. The Passover ritual
observances included the offering of a sheaf
of barley. On the feast of Pentecost the Jews
were commanded to bring two wave loaves
out of their habitations and in holy convoca-
tion to give thanks for the harvest blessings.
Since early post - Biblical times Pentecost
has, however, been mainly regarded as a
festival to commemorate the giving of the
ten words. But we decorate our synagogues
with flowers in order that we may be
reminded of the old agricultural meaning.
These flowers should quicken us to a sense
of gratitude to God for the beauties of nature,
which belong to all men alike, both small and

Thoughts on Judaism 97

great. " The festival [of Pentecost] year by
year celebrates the promulgation and excel-
lence of the ten fundamental words of religion
and morality. It is the festival, which cele-
brates the great cardinal dogma of Judaism,
namely, the necessary union of religion and
morality with each other, that is, that God
is for ever associated with goodness, and
that goodness must for ever be associated
with God. One God, and He the God
of righteousness, that is the keynote of
Pentecost. Goodness for ever rooted in
God, even as God is goodness. The love
of God shown in the love of man, and the
love of man based upon, and culminating
in the love of God. Again, Pentecost is
the festival of the family, for it declares
that the basis of social well - being is
the honour of parents and the sanctity of
the home. Then, too, Pentecost is the
festival of law, and law is a great and noble
element in human life, which will always play
its part and maintain its worth. Lastly,
Pentecost is the festival, which, through
law, bids us in a sense get beyond law. . . .

98 Thoughts on Judaism

" The tenth word bids us quench the source
of evil which is within, cut down desire and
lust at their roots within the soul, and,
leaving the negative commands of pro-
hibitory law, we advance to the positive
commands of morality and religion — Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
soul and with all thy might. Pentecost is
therefore a great festival of religion and
morality, a day, moreover, be it well re-
membered, suited for the worship not of one
people only, but of anybody of whatever
race who chooses to join us in its celebra-
tion." x

We see how Pentecost, if properly under-
stood, can teach us the ultimate meaning of
all religious observance, for it is intended
to stimulate our moral ideal. We are
reminded of the worthlessness of Judaism,
unless it includes a high conception of
morality. We are not Jews, unless we try
consciously and steadfastly to be good, and to
consecrate our lives to the Omnipresent God.

1 Bible for Home Reading^ Vol. I. p. 143.

Thoughts on Judaism 99

It is important that we should not let the
festival slip by, without devoting some
thought to the study of the Ten Words.
Year by year we may, with God's help, see
more meaning in these commandments, and
thus each Pentecost should mark some little
advance in our conception of the purpose of
life, and the sanctity of its responsibilities.
The first commandment bids us dwell on the
oneness of God, on His eternal unvarying
goodness and love. The second and third
demand complete, single-hearted and reverent
service. We ask, whether we ourselves are
entirely free from idolatry, whether the cult
of riches and honour, does not sometimes
replace the true worship of God in our "holy
of holies," which only the Father's eye can
pierce. Are we careful enough in our
speech and in our thoughts not to take the
name of the Lord our God in vain ? The
fourth commandment proclaims, to all time,
the value of the Sabbath, as the means of
uniting man with God in a holy covenant.
The fifth summons us to honour our parents.
Surely this exhortation is not superfluous in

ioo Thoughts on Judaism

our day, for is it not to-day that men and
women incline so persistently to be over-
wise in their own eyes, and to underrate
the sacrifices made by their parents in the
cause of truth ?

The sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth
commandments admonish us not to trans-
gress that moral code, upon which civilised
society is based. They emphasise the
sanctity of human life and honour. The
tenth commandment, as we have seen, bids
us look within, and destroy the root of moral
evil, which is envy and lust.

The festival of Tabernacles is still a
festival of nature. ' " It is the festival of
gratitude to God, the Giver of our daily
bread. It bids us remember all, that in the
last resort, we owe to the soil. Just as the
essence of character is goodness, and not
wisdom, so the basis of our life is not the
work of brain but the work of muscle and
hand. Life in cities depends upon life in the

* The following passage, excepting those portions which
are bracketed, is taken almost verbatim from the Bible for
Home Reading.

Thoughts on Judaism 101

fields. It was once said that man made the
town but God made the country. The say-
ing is not quite accurate, but there is some
truth in it." (In the country the surround-
ings are more beautiful than in towns ; there
is more regularity and order. This beauty
and this order are revelations of God's one-
ness. We often see in towns, buildings
which are inspired by a high conception of
beauty, but these works may be spoiled by
the cupidity or meanness of the builder.
When men become fully conscious of God's
omnipresent love and truth, then will their
work reveal Him as beautifully as do the
rivers, trees, plains and mountains in His
open country.) " Now that we have quite got
over the danger of worshipping any part of
creation, instead of creation's Creator, we
must not run into the opposite extreme of
error and forget to remember the divine
Creator Himself. We must not empty
nature of God because we no longer believe
that any part of nature is itself divine. . . .
More especially for the Jews, who have been
so long, and are many of them still, forced to

1 02 Thoughts on Judaism

live in cities, and to gain their livelihood by
barter, and trade, and commerce, the festival
of Tabernacles is not the least important of
the three. It should not only awaken in us
gratitude to God the Giver, not merely
remind us that we owe our daily bread in a
hundred ways rather to God, than to our-
selves, not merely exhort us to the virtues of
modest simplicity and cleanly strength, which
are associated with the tilling of the soil, but
it should induce us to remember that the
primal and fundamental daily labour of man
is labour in the fields. Agriculture is the
first and the greatest of the arts of man.
No people is in a healthy state of which a
certain proportion is not tillers of the
soil." . . . (There is a natural tendency
for men in every community to follow cer-
tain trades and professions. It is well,
however, for Jews to beware of this sort of
concentration. Their peculiar power of
adaptation and their wonderful vitality
should encourage them to attempt various
forms of useful activity. Agriculture makes
considerable demand on men's power of

Thoughts on Judaism 103

judgment and endurance ; it also feeds their
love of speculation and excitement. It
cannot be altogether ill -adapted to the
Jewish character.) " But if there are, at
any rate in Western Europe, so few Jews"
(to-day) "who are agriculturists, it is the
more necessary for us all to learn to love
nature, and to teach our children to love
nature and to know a little, even if it be only
a very little, about her ways and her laws
and her creatures. An out-of-door life is a
good foundation for goodness and religion.
We must learn, if we can, to love nature
religiously, looking upon her, as the creation
of God, and seeking from, and finding in her
all the comfort and the strength which we
can."1 If children grow up "streety," if
they feel lonely and miserable in the country,
without the noise and excitement of city life,
we feel that they have lost something for
which no material comfort can compensate
them. Parents should not grudge any
sacrifice which would enable their children
to go into the country during the summer

1 So far the Bible for Home Reading,

IO4 Thoughts on Judaism

holidays, for children may be induced by
the influence of nature's beauties to realise
better the existence of God. Adult workers
also need the rest and peace of country
life some time in the year, in order that
their lives may be as complete as possible.

The festivals of Passover, Pentecost and
Tabernacles are pre-eminently festivals of
rejoicing. We are glad, because of God's
goodness. We are conscious of His care and
love. Prayers of thankfulness should rise
to His throne on these festivals, from every
Jewish heart. For past deliverances, for
present blessings, and for the power of hope,
we should thank God and sing songs of
praise to Him.

In addition to the three festivals of rejoic-
ing, the latest code added two others of a
totally different kind to the yearly cycle.
The New Year, which owes its name to an
arrangement of the Calendar, with which we
are no longer familiar, is a day of reflection
and preparation. Its value as an *' aid to holi-
ness " can hardly be over-estimated. As we
assemble in prayer on the solemn day, we

Thoughts on Judaism 105

think over the year which is at an end, and
realise its many shortcomings. We examine
our hopes and aims, and we decide whether
they may be used in God's service, or had
better be discarded on the threshold of the
New Year. The day of New Year prepares
us for the most solemn of all days — the Day
of Atonement — and the days which divide
these two holy days should be used by us for
penitent thought and earnest heart-search-
ings. In Biblical times, the Day of Atone-
ment was a day of national purification,
for the sins of individual Jews, whether moral
or ceremonial, were felt to degrade the whole
nation. Our Fathers therefore endeavoured,
by priestly rites, and by symbolic self-puri-
fication, to remove the stains from their
national shield. The nation, as a nation,
must be clean, for it was believed to be
God's peculiar treasure. To-day, our
Atonement ceremony has a more spiritual
and personal meaning for us. Each soul is
felt to be responsible to his Creator, and
his confessions must be made direct to
Him. By prayer and penitence, by kind and

io6 Thoughts on Judaism

charitable resolutions, we seek to feel again
at one with God. We realise that the great
Day of Atonement cannot help us, unless it
follows a succession of daily efforts to reach
nearer to God, and unless it gives us a new
start on a better life, which we strenuously
endeavour to lead. "He who says * I will sin
and the Day of Atonement will bring me
pardon,' for him the Day of Atonement
will bring no pardon/* taught the Rabbis
seventeen hundred years ago, and it is well
for us to remind ourselves that sin cannot be
easily wiped out. Atonement can only be
accomplished by those, who, persistently and
continuously, strive to seek good and not evil
all the days of their lives.

We would not escape the consequences of
our sins ; we could not, if we would. But
we endeavour on this most holy day to under-
stand ourselves, and to recognise our weak-
nesses. Our strength of character, even as
the strength of some great work of mechanism,
depends on the strength of our weakest part.
As we really are bad - tempered, greedy,
licentious, proud, selfish or conceited, so we

Thoughts on Judaism 107

stand bare before our God. His love and
pity keep us from despair. We ask His
help in prayer. The Day of Atonement is
still to us a Day of Judgment, but it is a day
of self-judgment. We dare not be tender to
ourselves. We tear open our heart, in order
to see its full weakness. We are sorry,
terribly sorry for our many faults and imper-
fections, but we must not stop at futile
regrets. So long as we are alive, we shall
have the opportunity of being good. Year by
year, these opportunities should become more
clear to us. On the Day of Atonement, we
ask in prayer for courage, and strength to
devote our lives to God. As the service
draws to a close, we make the solemn
declaration of our faith in God. f< God, He
is one ! " we cry with solemn iteration. In
this cry, we concentrate all the strength
derived from a day of thinking and prayer.
Its meaning is impressed upon us, and we
go forth from the house of prayer resolved
to testify by our conduct, to the truth of
our faith.1
* In order to preserve the joyousness of the day, our

i o8 Thoughts on Judaism

It has always been the custom to fast on the
Day of Atonement. I n fasting, we give our in-
terpretation of the Biblical precept, " Ye shall
afflict your souls." This custom is valuable,
because it concentrates the interest of the day
on things spiritual. We are not distracted
by the pleasures of the table, from our work
of prayer and praise. It should always be
remembered, however, that this fasting does
not comprehend the full duty, belonging to
the Day of Atonement. It is merely a
means to the accomplishment of that duty.
On this holiest of holy days, we prepare our
hearts until they are attuned to deeds of
righteousness. Mere ceremonials cannot
avail us, as ends in themselves. They can
onlystimulate us to a higher life. This thought
emphasised in the beautiful lesson chosen
from the Prophets for the Day of Atonement :
"Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? to

Sabbath ritual contains hardly any reference to sin. Con-
sequently, there may be a danger that the thought of repent-
ance, which is really so closely interwoven with the idea of
prayer, should, except on the Day of Atonement, be forgotten
in our lives. It is important, therefore, that we should re-
member the great teaching of that Day in our private daily
prayers.

Thoughts on Judaism 109

loose the fetters of wickedness, to undo the
thongs of the yoke, and to let the oppressed
go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it
not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that
tjjou bring the poor that are cast out to thy
house? When thou seest the naked, that
thou cover him, and that thou hide not
thyself from thine own flesh ? Then shall
thy light break forth as the morning and thy
health shall spring forth speedily, and thy
righteousness shall go before thee ; the glory
of God will be thy reward."

All the Jewish holy days begin at sunset,
and this fact suggests a beautiful spiritual
lesson, for the mystery of birth must al-
ways be shrouded in darkness. These
festivals are full of life, which it is for
us to absorb and make our own. It is
right that their beginning should be in
darkness. The birth of the soul is also
hidden from us.

Besides these five appointed days, to
which we have referred, there are other
feasts and fasts not ordained in the
Pentateuch, but observed by many of our

no Thoughts on Judaism

brethren. Want of space prevents me from

discussing them in detail. But I cannot

pass over the festival of Chanukah, which

has its origin in the post- Biblical history

of the Maccabees, without paying a tribute to

its religious value. " The mere national

aspect of the matter is very small and trivial ;

whether a petty tribe of folk called Judaeians

preserved their separate national existence

and constitution, or became assimilated with

the Hellenistic Syrian subjects of the motley

kingdom of Antiochus was unimportant,

when looked at from a merely political or

national point of view. But it so happened,

that this small race possessed at that time

the purest and truest conception of God and

of the manner of serving Him among all the

races of the earth, and if therefore, this race

had then been destroyed or absorbed in the

mass of Greeks and Syrians, this religion

would also have perished. The work of the

Prophets would have been in vain. It would,

as it were, have had to be begun all over

again. The Maccabaean victories insured

the continuance of the teachings and writings

Thoughts on Judaism 1 1 1

of Amos and of the Isaiahs. Therefore, the
festival of Chanukah is a religious festival,
and as such is worthy of our high regard. We
are not specially concerned with the defeats
of the Syrians. The details of the fightings,
subsequent to the dedication of the Temple
are of smaller interest to us. The Macca-
baean family itself, suffers from the results of
conquest and victory. But the preservation
of Judaism at a time of imminent and critical
danger, remains a permanent fact of supreme
importance. If Judaea had been overcome
and absorbed, the Jewish congregations
outside it, would very probably have been
unable to outlive the shock. Therefore we
owe our gratitude to the martyrs and soldiers
whose festival we celebrate in the days of
Chanukah. Let Chanukah be also a festival
of courage, a fourth part of all virtue, as the
Greeks of old believed. The courage which
Judaism demands of us now, is not the
courage of soldiers upon the battlefield, but
it is often courage none the less. Let the
deeds of martyrs and soldiers in the age of
Antiochus inspire us from year to year

112 Thoughts on Judaism

anew."1 We need this inspiration to-day,
when it requires courage to show allegiance
to the teachings of Judaism. Again and again
we are tempted to let evil pass, when it
seems not to concern us directly, and so we
are faithless to our ideal of righteousness.
Often Freethinkers seem to be more popular
than Jews, and we are sometimes inclined
to conceal our faith in order to share their
popularity. The Chanukah lessons should
make us ashamed of such cowardice. We
bow our heads in memory of the heroism of
Judas Maccabaeus, and pray that it may
inspire our lives.

Besides the historical narrative and the
precepts concerning ceremonials and festivals,
the Pentateuch contains a number of moral
laws which deserve our attention. These
enactments are mostly concerned with
brotherly love and charity. They also
formulate a high moral standard in business
and home life. Some of these laws can no
longer affect our lives, for they refer to
conditions which have passed away. In a

1 Bible for Home Reading, Vol. II. p. 740.

Thoughts on Judaism 113

few instances, the ethical code has been
superseded by more enlightened conceptions,
and there are many phases of modern life, for
which the Pentateuchal laws provide no
guidance. These facts should only serve to
stimulate our interest in these Biblical books.
In the midst of verses, which give no inspira-
tion to modern life, we find passages of
inexhaustible spiritual strength. The Penta-
teuchal laws also include a series of dietary
laws, which are valuable, both on sanitary
and on ethical grounds. These laws have
been observed in post-Biblical days with
a remarkable devotion, and even to-day,
they are respected in homes in which all
other ceremonial laws are broken. To
the clear Biblical precepts concerning for-
bidden food, the Rabbis have added a
series of ordinances, which have been
accorded almost equal respect. Many of
the so-called Mosaic dietary laws are in
harmony with modern hygienic principles,
and we can only marvel at their antiquity.
Moreover, the self-control which their proper

observance requires, has been essentially

H

1 1 4 Thoughts on Judaism

useful to our community, and has trained
them in habits of temperance. Unfortunately,
the legal minutiae added by the Rabbis,
have here and there somewhat distorted the
vision of believers, who have been so
misled as to call themselves Jews merely
because they kept " Koscher" homes. The
effect of such exaggeration, has been
disastrous to the spiritual life of our
community. It is for us Jews, who aim at
making our Judaism a living, ethical influ-
ence in our lives, to reveal a sense of pro-
portion in our observance. We must
reverently examine these laws, and, where
they are in accordance with hygienic truth,
and secure the most humane treatment
of animals, we should give them our
allegiance. In seeking truth, we are testify-
ing to our faith in God. As education
improves, we are happily less and less
affected by the discipline of our appetites.
There are so many pleasures, which appeal
to us more strongly than the pleasures of the
table ; nevertheless, we are not so impervi-
ous to temptation, that we can afford to under-

Thoughts on Judaism 115

value the lessons in self-control which sound
dietary laws enforce. If regarded as a means
of purification, they are in harmony with a
strenuous religious life, and should therefore be
observed in a kingdom of priests. T Moreover,
in so far as they are consistent with the best
scientific principles, known to our generation,
they form a valuable part of that inheritance
to which we must remain faithful, if through
us, the whole family of the "earth is to be
blessed." Such fidelity can only strengthen
our conception of the innumerable sacrifices,
which Judaism demands of us in the cause
of truth and righteousness.

1 Compare Judaism as Creed and Life, by Mr Morris
Joseph, p. 185, par. i : — "These Dietary Laws . . . may
help to maintain Jewish separateness ; they may preserve
the idea of Israel's consecration, they may exercise a power-
ful influence upon personal purity. The last two objects are
obviously desirable in themselves. They are more even
than this, they are vital objects. The consciousness of
being an elect people, and a power of setting an example to
the world of personal holiness, are alike essential to the
fulfilment of our divinely-appointed errand. Every law that
strengthens these qualities, merits respect and obedience. It
is a law which still fulfils a great purpose. It is a living
law, and therefore a law that deserves to live."

Mr Joseph rests the value of the dietary laws to Judaism,
on purely religious grounds.

CHAPTER VIII

I HAVE now given a brief exposition of the
fundamental principles of Judaism, and have
shown that their realisation, depends primarily
on their being applied to the conduct of
every-day life. Such application presents, as
we have seen, great difficulties to the average
man, who needs the help of religious observ-
ance and Biblical study, in order that he may
understand his responsibilities as a Jew.

Hence the justified appeal to all Jews, to
prove their faithfulness to Jewish ideals.
Earnestly and prayerfully, we must begin
the work of adaptation and reconstruction.
The old truths live for ever. They must
be rendered comprehensible through their
symbols ; they must be revealed in daily
conduct and in ceremonial observance. The
non-religious Jew is a menace to Judaism ;

his ideals are often a travesty on the ideals

116

Thoughts on Judaism 117

of our faith. Yet we should be unfaithful to
our mission, if we ignored those, who only
claim to be Jews, in so far, as they possess a
certain pride of race, but who give no heed
to religion. We must not deny them the
privileges of our Brotherhood, but we must
rather seek to win them to religion, and to a
more religious conception of Judaism. As
things now are, many of them help to
strengthen the materialistic tendencies of
our age, against which, we have undertaken
to labour.

It is clear that Jews, who live from day to
day, indifferent to the claims of religion and
moral aspiration, make our brotherhood
hateful in the eyes of our neighbours.
Generalising from a few instances, of gross
materialism, our critics affirm that we are a
degenerate people, existing only to advance
our own interests. It is for us, who care
about Judaism to try to show in our own lives
its power of inspiration. Thus we may win
the most indifferent back to their allegiance,
and prove that our religion can satisfy the
needs of posterity.

1 1 8 Thoughts on Judaism

We must try to show the efficacy of
prayer and faith in our lives by seeking
God's guidance in the ordering of our daily
pursuits. If we labour, so that every night
we may venture to ask God to bless the
work of our hands ; if we seek in prayer
every morning, strength to accomplish satis-
factorily our daily tasks, we shall surely en-
deavour to work from pure, unsordid motives
and to do all we have to do as well as we
can. We pride ourselves justly on being a
practical people, but even practicality can be
over developed and so leave too little room
for ideals. Some of us are rather ready to
denounce our neighbours as mere vision-
aries, because their lives are uninfluenced by
utilitarian instincts* We forget that our
history is glorious through the record of
lives, devoted to study, and this devotion is a
form of idealism.

When their political importance and the
outward symbols of their greatness had
vanished altogether, our ancestors turned
their attention to learning. Their schools
were to be the source of their glory. They

Thoughts on Judaism 119

spent their lives, in attempting to unravel the
difficult problems of religion and of life. In
the volumes of philosophical and theological
literature, which have come down to us,
there may be some hair-splitting and con-
fusion of thought. But the spirit of unselfish
devotion and of reverence for intellectual
work, which animated the writers, is surely
not without its inspiration to-day. The
men who gave themselves up to study, were
heroes in the sight of their contemporaries.
They were followed and loved, and their
most trivial utterances were recorded by
their disciples with absolute fidelity. Even
the men, who devoted themselves to tran-
scribing the scrolls of the law, recognised
their work as holy, and devoted to it a
patient courage which is in every sense
admirable. We cannot dwell on this page
of our history, without being profoundly
moved by its pathos. The people had lost
their temple, which, in spite of the warnings
of their prophets, they had believed in-
destructible. The interest of their lives had
to be now altogether changed, for it had

1 20 Thoughts on Judaism

centred round Jerusalem. At the moment of
their degradation and misery, God revealed to
our ancestors their glorious mission. It was
not merely to build and to preserve a mag-
nificent temple, that God had kept them
alive, and had led them by the rays of His
own light through the darkness of the ages.
The Temple was merely the symbol of an
eternal truth, and it was as witnesses to this
truth, that the brotherhood must exist.
Their conduct, their holiness mattered to
God. Dispersed among all races, despised
and even hated by men of other creeds,
they were to carry out the glorious charge
which had been laid upon them. We can
imagine the tremendous uplifting, which
such a revelation must have given to people,
bowed down by the burden of misery and
defeat. Much was expected from them.
They were not to waste their time in miser-
able, useless lamentation. They were to
readjust all their ideas and aims, and cease
to care about material prosperity, and political
glory. As the guardians and depositories of
a great religious trust, they learned to rejoice

Thoughts on Judaism 121

in their responsibilities, and obtained, by
intellectual and spiritual striving, a happiness,
which was destined to be real and lasting.
We have no space in which to follow the
gradual development of the commercial talent
of the Jews. That talent received a power-
ful stimulus under the new conditions of their
life in the lands of their dispersion. In
addition to learning, commerce began to
flourish among them. Indeed, the former
depended in a great measure upon the
latter, for scholars need bread on which
to live, and the results of profound intel-
lectual research, do not always prove of
material value. Throughout the dark ages
of mediaeval superstition, the Jewish traders
and scholars were not necessarily two
distinct classes, but there were always
enough men willing to devote their atten-
tion entirely to study. The synagogues
worked in connection with schools. Un-
fortunately, here and there, the thirst for
gold got possession of some trader's soul,
and he became engrossed in his work, and
indifferent to the spiritual claims of his

122 Thoughts on Judaism

brotherhood. He became, perhaps, rather
unscrupulous, when he found honest careers
closed to him, and had recourse to question-
able means of obtaining self-advancement.
The light of learning, however, was never
quenched among our people. The en-
thusiasm for God's work flourished among
them, as a community, in spite of the
frequent lapses of individuals into disgraceful
undertakings.

To-day we must remind ourselves, that
we are descended from the People of the
Book, as well as from those, whose com-
mercial sagacity brought honour to their
race. We should recognise that through any
honest work, we can testify to our faith in God,
and that no shame can attach to careers, which
are conducted on honourable lines, for they
give opportunity for the realisation of the
highest ideals in conduct. In dealing with
our fellow - workers, and with the public
through our trades or professions, "We can
labour with clean hands and a pure heart,"
and observe Hillel's golden rule, " What is
hateful to thee, do not unto thy neighbour."

Thoughts on Judaism 123

But we must remember the lessons of the
past. The thirst for gold does grow with
success, and since our people are so clever
at getting on, they must beware of the
temptations, which are so often connected
with material triumphs. In order that our
community should be true to its trust,
material success must not be its distinguish-
ing glory. Jews must show to the world
that material comfort is useful, as a means
to an end. People cannot feel the claims of
the higher life satisfactorily, while they are
hungry and ill - clothed and badly housed.
These physical needs must absorb their
attention. The spirit acts through the body
while we are on earth, and it is absurd to
ignore the claims of the body. But the
joys of study, of complete self-surrender to
philanthropic ends, must also not be for-
gotten by our generation. There are careers
open to men and women, which can bring
no wealth and very little worldly fame. But
they are glorious in the sight of God, and
should therefore appeal to those, who are
summoned by their faith to minister to Him.

124 Thoughts on Judaism

There are unpopular causes to be won by
our generation. There is work to be under-
taken, of which the results will belong to
posterity. There are trades and professions
open to us, which demand perseverance, self-
sacrifice and self-denial, and offer no allure-
ment of great personal profit. As Jews, we
must remember all these possibilities for
self-devotion, and seek to claim some for
ourselves and for our children. A father
once said of his daughter of six, " I don't
want her to go to Sabbath School, I want
her to learn how to earn money ! " This
man was a Jew by race, but he knew
nothing of communion with God. He
lived in a narrow, cheerless world, guarded
by the idols of gold, which he worshipped.
He denied to his child the inheritance of
Jewish womanhood. She was to be a
money-grubber like himself, to find pleasure
merely in getting wealth. She was to be
shut out from the kingdom of pure joy.

It is by prayer that we learn to
sanctify the claims of the body, and make
them subservient to a higher life. Morning

Thoughts on Judaism 125

and evening, we remind ourselves, that there
is a God above us, who expects the best from
us. Faith teaches us, that we must not live
for the pleasures of the hour. " We leave
now for dogs and apes, we have for ever."
Therefore we should not be afraid to allow
ourselves to be inspired by the lives of our
ancestors in the early centuries of the
Christian era. We, too, must devote much
time to the development of our religious
ideal. Indeed, if, as we profess, we really
believe that our religion is based on progress,
we, as a brotherhood, must endeavour, by
strenuous, self-denying effort, to receive some
new particle of knowledge from God, and to
transmit it to the next generation.

Faith should not only help us in the
choice and conduct of our active lives, but
should also make us strong in the power of
endurance. We remember that Job, when
he was suffering every conceivable misery
known to man, when he was bereft of all his
children and his possessions, when he was
being sorely tried by physical disease,
became gradually conscious of the mystery

126 Thoughts on Judaism

of God's love and the power of faith was
kindled within him. He had been rather a
self-righteous man, unaware of his own
spiritual needs and limitations. God,
through His chastening, taught him to realise
His presence. The problem of suffering
and evil, continues as in the days of Job, and
we have to reconcile it with the existence of
an Omnipresent and perfect God. Evil
exists. Therefore God allows it to exist
for He is all-powerful. We cannot solve
the mystery of evil. Our faith can only
suggest palliatives, which render its existence
more endurable. We admit that some evil
is the result of wrong-doing. If we indulge
in frequent uncontrolled tempers, we gradu-
ally alienate our relations and friends ; if we
have recourse to gambling or drinking our
moral sense becomes weaker. We neglect
our duties, and misery falls on ourselves and
our homes. Then again we may commit
some deed of treachery or impurity, be-
yond the reach of civil or criminal law, and
conceal it so well, that the world knows
nothing of it. Yet this deed will sooner or

Thoughts on Judaism 127

later make us suffer. We cannot escape its
results. "Be sure," says the Bible, "that
your sin will find you out." Some people
may refuse to be deterred from evil by the
fear of punishment, but they cannot be
altogether unaffected by the knowledge, that
their children will suffer for their sakes.
Surely no stronger incentive can induce men
and women to lead steady, pure lives, than
the knowledge that, if they sin, the conse-
quences of shame and guilt, must be shared
by the beings, whom they love most in the
world. Punishment which follows sin, is just
and comprehensible, even to our limited
human understanding. But much evil exists,
which is by no means the result of sin.

" Some forms of suffering can be shot
through with explanatory and ennobling
light, which makes them bearable and even
good ; but other forms remain dark and
inexplicable. The sufferings of sentient
animals, and more especially the sufferings
inflicted upon them by thoughtless and cruel
men, continue to be a hopeless puzzle.
Among mankind there are evils such as

128 Thoughts on Judaism

idiocy, madness and moral degradation
which seem beyond explanation. There are
problems respecting the relation of civilised
to uncivilised races ; there are problems
respecting the endless individuals, who have
lived and died without any approach to that
mental and moral stature, of which mankind
is capable. There is not merely the strange
difference, which oppressed the mind of Job,
between the happiness of this man and that ;
but we ask, and ask in vain, what can be the
meaning of that suffering and squalor which
do not ennoble or purify, but lead in many
cases almost inevitably to sin and depravity ?
To these, and many similar problems no
answer can be given ; we, no less than Job,
must simply trust in the infinite wisdom and
righteousness of God.

"On the other hand, for certain aspects of
suffering there are ennobling alleviations."1

Were we not acquainted in some measure
with pain, misery and sin, we should hardly
be able to appreciate goodness, happiness

1 Liberal Judaism, p. 66, by Mr C. G. Montefiore
(Macmillan).

Thoughts on Judaism 129

and virtue. We recognise that, as physical
life is strengthened by the surmounting of
obstacles, so moral life is purified by the
struggle against sin.

" We all of us have seen how in times of
trial and trouble, people are frequently at
their best. Unexpected reserves of good-
ness and self-sacrifice, are then displayed.
The brave endurance of misery at home, the
ardent struggle to relieve it abroad, and the
good fight against degradation and sin, have
provided, and still provide, the noblest
opportunities for the exhibition of human
patience, pity and human love."1

In spite, however, of all these alleviations
we must admit that misery and pain are
awful while they last. The righteous suffer
with the wicked ; the helpless and innocent
with the guilty. Faith alone can help us to
face these facts courageously and patiently.
I doubt whether a man who, in the
midst of an honourable, independent life
is suddenly afflicted with some horrible
disease, which renders him for an indefinite

1 Liberal Judaism, p. 67.
I

1 30 Thoughts on Judaism

period of time a burden to himself, and to his
family, can derive much comfort from the
hope of compensation in another world.
The only real comfort in such cases must lie
in the belief that there is some explanation
for the existence of evil, for God is good.
We therefore cling gratefully to our faith in
immortality and believe that " beyond the
veil," in God's own good time, we shall
know, why the hitherto unexplained misery
was allowed to exist on earth. Let us
then be at peace and trust in God. Evil
is no little thing ; its presence is hateful to
us. God bids us fight against evil and
misery with all our strength, but when we
can struggle no more, we have the sublime
comfort of faith. God knows best, we say,
and, through our tears, we look at the world
and think it good.

We cannot claim that faith, however deep
and sincere, can remove pain altogether.
But the recognition of an omnipresent God
of love gives us power to bow our heads, and
to endure courageously what we cannot
overcome. God loves us. So long as we

Thoughts on Judaism 131

live, He has work for us to do. We must
take up our burdens in the spirit of David,
who, when, he had vainly endeavoured to
save his child, ceased to mourn, and went
about the work of his life. We cannot in this
world understand the mystery of pain ; we
must believe in the God of love. He can
give us peace. We must seek it from Him.
Job was helped by his suffering to realise
God. Our periods of suffering also, must
be sent to us for our good, although in the
moment of agony, we cannot help some-
times wishing that some other method of
purification could have been chosen.
Gradually, however, in answer to our
prayers, the power of submission is
vouchsafed to us. Here again, faith is
justified by experience. Those of us who
have suffered and have prayed, who have
put our grief behind us, and let it inspire us
to further effort in the cause of God, know
that the divine help was not withheld from
us. We have issued from the fire, scarred,
perhaps, but stronger, nevertheless, in our
love and in our faith.

132 Thoughts on Judaism

If we can only believe in the vital principle
of Judaism, in the omnipresence of a God
of love and of righteousness, no incident in
life can be intolerable. Every experience
must have its meaning and its purpose.
When we rejoice, we shall rejoice more
completely, if we see God's love and care
revealed in that joy. It is not a mere
chance, that we are happy. Our happiness
is sent to us for a purpose, for we must use
it in God's service. When we are sad, God
knows about our sorrow and pities us. He
will give us peace.

We believe in immortality. We need
another life, in order that we should have
more time in which to grow good. God is
Perfection, and towards Perfection we are
bidden to strive. Every sorrow and every
joy — everything, indeed, that happens to us
in our lives — can be used as a means, by
which we may reach higher and higher on
the upward road. But we shall not get
very far, for we are, even the best of us,
very foolish and weak. We must accept
that fact at once. "We do not want the

Thoughts on Judaism 133

future life for punishment, still less do we
want it for reward ; we do not even so
greatly want it for the redress of this life's
inequalities in outward prosperity ; we do
want it for the progress of men towards
Perfection." x With the hope of immortality in
our hearts, let us as Jews live our lives, for
how can we live as if to-day were the end
of everything, seeing that we believe every
soul to belong to God and to have emanated
from Him ? What do the little things
matter, the pleasures of gain, the petty
cares, the trivial disappointments ? Our
God knows us from afar. In His love, let
us rejoice. Through His light let us see
light.

1 Bible for Home Reading^ Vol. II. p. 207.

CHAPTER IX

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

WE have tried in the preceding pages to
give our conception of the vital principles
of Judaism. We have affirmed our belief
that any man or woman may claim to
belong to our brotherhood who is convinced
that : —

1. There is one sole Creator or God.

2. The God of the world has relations with

each individual soul, and each soul,
being an emanation from Him, must
be, like Him, immortal.

3. We are responsible to God for our

conduct, and if we sin, must bear the
consequences of our sin. No inter-
cessor is possible or necessary, between
man and God. The divine love
enters into the hearts of those who
seek it with prayer and contrition.

Thoughts on Judaism 135

4. The love of our neighbours is a

necessary development of the love
of God.

5. The Jewish brotherhood exists for a

definite religious purpose, and this
purpose involves the highest efforts
of self-sacrifice and self-realisation.

We have shown how these principles can
affect our daily conduct, and how their
influence may be strengthened by cere-
monial observance and by the study of the
Bible. We have emphasised the duty, which
is incumbent on all believing Jews, of making
the conduct of their lives, in its religious,
as well as in its secular phases, consistent
with the highest thought known to their
generation, and inspired by the dictates of
their conscience. In developing these con-
ceptions we have, for the purpose of discus-
sion separated religious duties from secular
duties, but we have, nevertheless, emphasised
our belief that Judaism affects every relation
of life, that it should hallow our conduct on
week days as well as on Sabbaths, and holy

136 Thoughts on Judaism

days. A Jewish life is consecrated to God
by the very conditions of its existence.
Finally, we made an appeal to our genera-
tion to realise themselves, and to become
conscious of their own inheritance. Some
of the old religious landmarks have been
shifted or destroyed by the flux of time.
Some ceremonials have lost their significance,
and therefore their vitalising power is dead.
Superstition has here and there been inter-
woven with dogma, and the materialistic in-
fluences of our age have degraded us. The
time has come for us to reconstruct our doc-
trines on the old foundations of love and trust.
We dare not slide along from indifference
to negation. A life, unhallowed by religious
aspiration is necessarily a sordid life. If
we shut out God from our midst, we shall
sink into ignorance and extreme degrada-
tion. Our children need the faith by which
our fathers lived. The continuity of testi-
mony is demanded by humanity. It is part
of God's plan to visit the sins of the fathers
upon the children unto the third or fourth
generation. Do we, in the face of this

Thoughts on Judaism 137

terrible warning, dare to remain indifferent
to the claims of our children ? Seeing that
God has shown us, through His holy men,
that light is given to those who seek it
steadfastly and earnestly, we cannot allow
our children to live with us in darkness, and
pretend to be satisfied and at peace.

The teaching of Judaism inspires us to
seek the best in life. We cannot be content
with spiritual stagnation. Around us, are
many signs of disintegration. Men and
women, professing different creeds marry in
an irresponsible spirit, and the work of
transmission is arrested ; men and women,
Jews by race, marry, while still unconscious
of any living religion whatever. Perhaps
their wedding is celebrated in synagogue,
but their lives remain unconsecrated to God,
and their children grow up indifferent to any
claim beyond that of self-advancement. By
certain sections of our fellow-countrymen
we are unloved. Much of the so-called
anti-Semitism is ignorant and unjustifiable.
It is rooted in prejudice and in jealousy, but
a little of it surely is not undeserved. If

138 Thoughts on Judaism

men and women live and die as mere earth
worms, if they seek to get rich by any
means within their power, indifferent to the
presence of God, and to the duties of
citizenship, anxious merely to enjoy them-
selves, to eat and drink as much as possible,
to wear fine clothes and to look smart — can
we wonder that they win the hatred and
scorn of the general community? When
these same people call themselves Jews —
pretending to be members of the brother-
hood appointed to testify to the existence of
a God of love, truth and beauty — do we
not ourselves feel utterly ashamed ? God
has commanded us to seek Him with love
and self-sacrifice, and humility of heart. He
has taught us to recognise the vanities of
life, by comparing them with His reality.
He has bidden us to draw nigh unto Him —
to seek peace from his love, to reflect His
ineffable beauty in our feeble efforts after
righteousness. What are we doing ? How
are we living? Are we not often false
witnesses ourselves ? Are we not also re-
sponsible for those who take His name in

Thoughts on Judaism 139

vain by calling on Him with their lips and
denying Him in their hearts. We can
commune with the living God by prayer.
Do we pray ? When do we pray ? Do we
pray at home before work in the morning,
and before sleep in the evening ? Do we
pray in our synagogues ? Do we pray to
God? Do we think when we pray? Do
we realise God's presence ? Do we put our
best into our worship ? Does it exact self-
denying effort from our souls ? Is it indeed
communion ?

Then, again, how about our children?
Our fathers gave us bread to eat ; this
bread will not exactly suit our children's
palates. Is it right then that we should
give them stones ? Can we not make some
effort to bake the bread anew and add a
few modern ingredients, so as to render it
more acceptable to the next generation ? If
we can do this, our children may live,
otherwise they will surely die — the worst of all
deaths, for their bodies will live. How shall
we account for our negligence to God ? How
shall we justify ourselves before His throne?

140 Thoughts on Judaism

These questions probe us to the depths
of our souls. It is good that we should ask
them. We cannot live in a fool's paradise,
and say all is well. It is not well with our
brotherhood. We cannot see the best life
among us, joining itself with the life of other
communities and say, "Alas! we cannot
influence this desertion." We dare not see
the worst life slipping into the sloughs of
materialism and degradation and say, " What
can we do?" and pass on. We ourselves
are responsible, for we have not made
sufficient effort to make our conduct reveal
our faith, to make that faith more real and
vital, to test the power of prayer as a
living force in our lives. We must rouse
ourselves now, immediately. Mere ac-
quiescence is cowardice ; it means spiritual
death. What can we do ?

1. We can try to lead better lives, by

realising our responsibility to God
and to our brotherhood.

2. We can pray, and allow God's love to

affect our lives.

Thoughts on Judaism 141

3. We can study the Bible and all the

beautiful and pure works of the best
men of all ages.

4. We can work among the members of

our community, and show them the
love of God as revealed in our lives,
and by our friendship with them, we
can lead them to God.

5. We can examine our religious cere-

monials, and faithfully observe all
those, which can stimulate righteous-
ness in our lives.

6. We can help to organise, and then take

part in the public worship which
satisfies our spiritual needs.

7. We can, by example and by precept, by

sympathy and exhortation, transmit
to our children a living religion,
based on a pure conception of the
reality of God and His laws of
righteousness.

It may be urged that the tendency of lax
Jews is tojoin the larger Christian community,
and that the Christian ideal of righteousness

142 Thoughts on Judaism

is as noble as our own. Why therefore
should we strive to prevent defections, which
can in no way affect the progress of the
human race? The burdens and responsi-
bilities of Jews are so heavy ; why should we
fret ourselves if some members of our
brotherhood choose a lighter religious dis-
cipline, in order to arrive at the same end.
But we cannot console ourselves so easily.
Men and women do not drift into the
realisation of a new faith. By mere indiffer-
ence to Judaism, they do not become Chris-
tians. By self-denying, strenuous spiritual
effort alone, can we realise any religion at all,
and certainly no conscientious change of faith
is possible without it. We know ourselves
with what painful anxiety, we, who have been
trained in the orthodox school of Jewish
thought, pass at the dictates of conscience to
liberal Judaism. It seems at first as if our
faith must altogether crumble away, when
some of our old convictions become in any
degree modified. It is a serious and painful
duty to refuse homage to observances which
certainly jar upon our sense of truth. We do

Thoughts on Judaism 143

not perform this duty in a careless or irrespons-
ible spirit when these observances are inter-
woven with some of the happiest memories
of our childhood. When we do refuse to stifle
our conscientious questionings, and to profess
a creed to which we are really indifferent, the
change must cause much pain and sorrow to
ourselves. For a time, at least, we feel as if
we were adrift on the vast sea of scepticism,
with no rudder and no anchor. Perhaps we
also cause pain to those we love, and would
give our lives to please. But the search for
truth is God's work, it must be accomplished
in the teeth of every conflicting consideration.
It is only when we are embarked on this
search, when we have rejected that which
appears false to our intellectual conceptions,
and have refused to conform outwardly, when
our spirit is unmoved, it is only then, that we
can feel at one with our God. This transi-
tion from different schools within our
brotherhood is then accompanied by sad
and difficult experiences. A transition from
one creed to another must be infinitely
more difficult and painful.

144 Thoughts on Judaism

Most jews who drift from Judaism drift
into nothingness, whether their faith has
the name of any existing creed, or is too
indefinite even to be named. Moreover,
just as we cannot become Christians merely
. by ceasing to be Jews, so we are not Jews
merely because we are not Christians. We
have to realise our inheritance and let it
influence our lives, otherwise only the noblest
souls among us can steer clear of materialism.
And the materialism of Jews is of the lowest
and most gross order, perhaps because the
height from which they descended, is so
glorious in its possibilities. We can only
arrest this descent, by ourselves climbing
nearer the heights, and proving by the
joyousness of our lives, that we realise the
blessings of Judaism. Thus, too, and thus
only, can we arrest the departure of those
truly religious members of our brotherhood,
who leave our community, because its forms
and ceremonies offer them so little spiritual
satisfaction. We have tried to show in
previous chapters that, with a little read-
justment, the highest spiritual lessons can be

Thoughts on Judaism 145

gathered from the ancient observances and
practices. We must by our efforts re-trim the
lamp of Judaism and cause it to shine with
a beautiful, pure light, which cannot be
extinguished.

As Jews, we believe our religion to be
based on irrefutable principles. Any defection
from our community, we regard not only as a
loss to ourselves, but as an injury to the
proselyte. It is well with us as Jews. We
are conscious of the Omnipresence of God.
We feel the influence of His love. We
obtain strength from our direct communion
with Him.

It is our mission to draw men within our
brotherhood. We dare not let them pass
away, without making an effort to reclaim
them. Moreover, at this moment it would
seem that our mission is drawing nearer to
its accomplishment.

For, passing from other faiths, we believe
that men are gradually coming to worship the
God of Israel, and to recognise the unity of
His being and the law of righteousness,

which He has established. Even now we
K

146 Thoughts on Judaism

see a gradual approximation of men of all
creeds. The Trinitarian idea is accepted
with intellectual reservations by believing
Christians. The conception of three Entities,
seems to be merging into the recognition of
different attributes in the one Divine Being.

Christian divines insist more and more on
personal responsibility in the conduct of life.
The universal Fatherhood is being so much
better understood that the doctrine of ever-
lasting punishment for the unbaptised, is
being discredited. Then, again, other com-
munities are coming into existence on
purpose to minister to the one God, and to
worship Him simply and directly by prayer,
and by works of righteousness. These new
Churches recognise most of our " principles,"
and we consequently feel in close sympathy
with them. All these signs of the times
awaken our gratitude and stimulate our
trust in the God of truth ; they affect
our religious obligations by strengthening
them, for the faith which inspires us is
now being quickened by hope. It sometimes
occurs, in the history of scientific discoveries,

Thoughts on Judaism 147

that two men, working under different
conditions, in opposite parts of the globe,
alight on the same truth by different methods.
The truth of the discovery is not for this
reason less valued ; rather is it doubly proved.
Similarly, our devotion as Jews to Judaism
is strengthened, when we find that some of
the constituent elements of our faith, are
being received more and more favourably by
sister religions. The general approximation
of different communities can be facilitated in
two ways, and both are surely desirable,
because universal religious brotherhood will
put an end to religious strife, the most bitter
of all forms of human strife. In the first
place, we can study the doctrines of other
faiths with reverence and respect, and we
shall find among them some developments of
Jewish dogma, which will help us in our
search after God. We can gratefully adopt
such teaching, as is consistent with the
principles of Judaism to which we sub-
scribe. For example, we shall find, in the
New Testament,1 important and suggestive
1 Bible Jor Home Reading, Vol. II. p. 779.

148 Thoughts on Judaism

modifications of the doctrines of retribution
and of the relations of suffering to sin, a fresh
and noble restatement of the old prophetic
doctrine, " I desire love and not sacrifice,"
among doctrines which to the Jewish mind are
narrow and harmful, a passionate enthusiasm
for the moral and religious regeneration of the
outcast and the sinner, fine teaching about the
nature and power of love and the duty of
forgiveness, fresh contributions to the con-
ception of self-sacrifice, suffering and religious
inwardness . . . a striking presentment of the
true and intimate relation of the human child
to the divine father, and last not least, a
clear and emphatic recognition that this
divine Fatherhood extends equally to
the Gentile and the Jew. The second
method of approximation is by increased
loyalty to the fundamentals of our own faith,
for thus we shall draw other communities
nearer to ourselves. After all, the new
theistic communities and the developments
of old communities are new, and we as
Jews have for our faith the most precious of
all testimonies — the unbroken testimony of

Thoughts on Judaism 149

past generations. Our religion possesses all
the picturesqueness, warmth, colour, poetry
and romance which belongs to antiquity.
Conduct based on the teaching of Judaism
may attain to the sublime, and our lapses are
due not to inherent defects in our faith,
but to inherent defects in ourselves. The
new organisations look to us for spiritual
light. That light must be found burning
with ever-increasing brightness in our own
lives, and in the corporate life of our com-
munity. By loyalty to our own faith, and by
reverent appreciation of the faith of other
men, we shall help to establish the dominion
of the God of love throughout the world.

THE END

EDINBURGH

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